Deportees Detained in Equatorial Guinea’s Hotel

In late 2025 the Trump administration signed a covert agreement worth about $7.5 million with Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, to transfer U.S. asylum seekers to the African country. The newly‑converted Bamy Hotel in Malabo is now a holding place for more than thirty deportees, many of whom had secured protection in U.S. court orders before they were forced to leave by the U.S. immigration system.

Unlike a typical immigration detention center, the Bamy Hotel is a family‑owned resort. Visitors report that the building’s marble lobby and palm‑tree driveway mask a cage in which inmates sleep in rooms that are rarely cleaned. The food is minimal, bringing sickness to several detainees; medical care is inconsistently provided, with some travelers only receiving treatment when their conditions worsen.

Deportees hail from Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritania, and other African states. Their return would place them in environments where they risk persecution, torture, or death. Some have expressed that they “are likely to be imprisoned or killed.” Reports claim that U.S. lawyers are denied access, while only one detainee has seen a lawyer, and even that person was told to “plead for mercy with the vice president” before being dismissed.

The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration and its refugee agency visited the hotel in November, promising assistance that never materialized. Despite the assurances and the presence of a local lawyer, the detainees remain trapped and may be sent back to their home nations at any time.

Legal action is underway. An international coalition of lawyers has filed a complaint with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, demanding that the commission suspend further repatriations, guarantee legal counsel for all deportees, and investigate the conditions at the hotel. The complaint names fourteen current detainees, half of whom had already been returned to Equatorial Guinea within the last week.

Equatorial Guinea’s record on human rights is well documented: the oil‑rich nation’s wealth is largely retained by the Obiang family, while widespread corruption and political repression persist. The country enjoys significant U.S. investment in oil and foreign military training, creating a complex relationship between economic ties and human rights oversight.

Human rights advocates argue that the “third‑country” policy breaches international law and violates the non‑refoulement principle that protects individuals from being returned to places where they face persecution. The United States’ justification that the policy is a lawful part of border security is challenged by the evidence of systematic intimidation and denial of legal recourse.

Until the Commission takes action or the U.S. policy is reassessed, the fate of those imprisoned in the Bamy Hotel remains uncertain. The international community and those who champion fair treatment of refugees watch closely, as this case may set a precedent for future “third‑country” deportations worldwide.