Most US deportees to DRC returned to home countries, Kinshasa says

More than half of a group of South American migrants deported by the United States to Kinshasa have now left DR Congo for their countries of origin, the Congolese government said on Friday.

As part of a US immigration crackdown, 15 men and women from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru arrived by plane in Kinshasa on April 17.

They were the first deportees to arrive in the central African country under a controversial US migration scheme to deport undocumented foreign nationals to third countries.

The DRC - one of a number of African nations that have agreed to take in deported migrants - is one of the world's poorest countries and thousands of kilometres from the Americas.

The scheme has often been accompanied by US financial or logistical support.

"To date, more than half of the 15 nationals admitted to the national territory on April 17 under this arrangement have already left the Democratic Republic of Congo to return to their countries of origin," the communications ministry said in a statement.

"Other departures will take place shortly as part of the implementation of the scheme," it said, adding they confirmed "the strictly transitional nature" of the arrangement.

The arrival of the South Americans in Kinshasa, a megacity of more than 17 million people, sparked criticism from civil society and on social media.

Most Kinshasa residents have no reliable access to running water or electricity.

Nearly three-quarters of Congolese people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

AFP spoke to several of the migrants who had come to Kinshasa, most of whom did not speak French, the country's official language.

Human Rights Watch said in September that US deportations carried out under such "opaque deals" violate international law and should be rejected.