'I didn't know where DR Congo was': Latin Americans deported by US tell BBC of their shock

ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNorberto ParedesBBC News MundoCourtesy imageCarlos Rodelo (left) and Jorge Cubillos are among a group of 15 people from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador held in a hotel in DR CongoFor eight years, Jorge Cubillos worked to build a new life in the US, after fleeing threats in his home country of Colombia. He says he had a work permit, and had been granted protection from deportation under Article 3 of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). But suddenly Cubillos was put on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 10,700 km (6,700 miles) away from his wife and four children in Florida. "I never thought I would end up in Africa. I thought they were just threats," he told BBC Mundo. Speaking by telephone from his hotel room in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, he says he has no idea what the future holds. Cubillos is one of a group of 15 migrants and asylum seekers from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador deported from the US to the central African country last month. While the US authorities say they were deported because they were in the country illegally, some of them told the BBC their asylum applications were pending and so they did have the right to stay. They are the first to arrive in DR Congo under a controversial agreement with third countries signed by US President Donald Trump's administration. His promise of mass deportations was central to his re-election campaign. Another of the deportees, Carlos Rodelo, says he only learned of his final destination just hours before the flight took off. "When they told me they were sending me to the Congo, I told them I didn't even know what that was or where it was." He says he spent eight months in detention in Louisiana before being deported - despite a court previously ruling he could remain in the country. The Trump administration has defended its deportations to other so-called third countries as being lawful and mutually beneficial to both countries. But a federal judge last week ordered the US authorities to bring back one of the women sent to DR Congo, saying her deportation "was likely illegal". DR Congo says it agreed to accept migrants from third countries because it was committed to human dignity, the protection of migrants' rights, and international solidarity. The country is embroiled in a decades-long conflict, although the fighting is on the other side of this vast nation, 2,700 km (1,700 miles) away. Last year, the US brokered a peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda, which is accused of backing rebel forces in its giant neighbour. The Congolese government says the migrants' stay in the country is temporary and that their care and support is being paid for by the US. The BBC has asked the US State Department for comment. The migrants and asylum seekers interviewed by BBC Mundo say the conditions are unacceptable, with frequent power cuts and a lack of drinking water. "We have fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. They tell us it's normal and our bodies are just adapting to Africa," Cubillos told the BBC shortly after arriving. They have now been in the same hotel for a month but say little has changed and they are still getting sick. "We have not been given any information about how long we will be here or when we will be leaving. We're constantly ill and don't want to eat the food provided, as it makes us feel worse. Our health is deteriorating. We're receiving medical assistance, but it isn't enough," Cubillos says. The mid-range apartment hotel where they are staying is on the outskirts of Kinshasa, near the international airport in the Mikindo district, one of the poorest in the city. However, the deportees can make use of its football pitch, tennis court and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. At least two police officers stand guard outside and the BBC was denied permission to enter. One member of staff told the BBC they have sometimes played football with the deportees. "I was worried about them being criminals. But, with time, I have come to understand that they are just like our own citizens, also trying make a living outside the country." "They are all good people and they have started picking up a few words in Lingala [the main language in Kinshasa]," they said. Pressed by the BBC about the swimming pool and other facilities at the hotel, Cubillos said that although from the outside it might look like they are living pretty well, that was not the case. "We've only used the pool once, on a really hot day. Most of the time, we're stuck in our rooms." He added that, stuck in an unfamiliar country, thousands of miles from home, where the main languages are French and Lingala and few people speak English or Spanish, there is just "nothing to do". "We spend our days shut in, alone with our thoughts, our problems, and the constant worry about what's going to happen to us." Despite being told they were free to leave the premises, the Latin American deportees say that is not the reality, and eve

'I didn't know where DR Congo was': Latin Americans deported by US tell BBC of their shock

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