Migrants flown to Equatorial Guinea after resisting Liberia deportation

Five people who the U.S. attempted to deport to Liberia this week resisted getting off the plane and were instead transported to Equatorial Guinea, another

African country to which the Trump administration is removing migrants it cannot legally send home, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.



The incident represents an early snag in Washington's plan to send up to 1,200 so-called third-country deportees to Liberia, one of the largest such deals it has struck in Africa despite criticism from immigrants' rights advocates.



Third-country deportees have, in most cases, obtained legal protection against repatriation after U.S. immigration judges ruled they risked torture or other abuses in their home countries.



Liberia announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to receive deportees and that the first group of 20 would arrive on Thursday. But a Liberian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters on Friday that only 15 deportees disembarked.