A group of men removed from the US to Djibouti, in east Africa, are stranded in a converted shipping container together with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers sent to supervise them after a deportation flight to South Sudan was stopped by an American court.
The eight deportees and 13 Ice staff have begun to “feel ill”, the US government said.
Eight men, from Latin America, Asia and South Sudan, and the Ice staff have been stuck at a US naval base since late May. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the Ice officers began to fall ill “within 72 hours of landing” in Djibouti, and continue to suffer from suspected bacterial upper respiratory infections.
The Trump administration had attempted to send the eight detainees, who it said had been convicted of criminal offenses, to South Sudan, but a judge intervened to stop their flight in May, arguing that they were entitled to challenge the deportation in the courts.
Mellissa Harper, a top official at the DHS and Ice, said in a court declaration that the detainees are being held in a shipping container that was previously converted into a conference room. The Ice officers are “sharing very limited sleeping quarters”, Harper said, with only six beds between 13 people.
In the declaration, Harper said burn pits in Djibouti have led to Ice officials experiencing “throat irritation”. She said the outside temperature frequently exceeds 100F (38C) in the daytime, and said Ice officials were at risk of malaria because they did not take anti-malaria medication before arriving in Djibouti.
“Within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, the officers and detainees began to feel ill,” Harper said, but they are unable to obtain proper testing for a diagnosis.
Harper added: “Upon arrival in Djibouti, officers were warned by US Department of Defense officials of imminent danger of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen. The Ice officers lack body armor or other gear that would be appropriate in the case of an attack.”
The declaration detailed the conditions that the detainees face, including only being allowed to shower once a day, and being subjected to “pat-downs and searches” during trips to the restroom, which is 40 yards from the shipping container where they are being held. Harper said there is limited lighting in the area, “which makes visibility difficult and creates a significant security risk for both the officers and aliens”.
The Trump administration had attempted to send the eight men to their home countries of Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan. Those countries declined to accept them, however, and US authorities then arranged to fly them to South Sudan in late May.
Brian Murphy, a US district judge in Boston, intervened, ruling that the administration had “unquestionably” violated his earlier order, issued in April, which ruled that anyone being deported to third-party countries had the right to challenge it legally.
