Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/world/africa/deportations-central-african-republic-migrants-iran-women.html

Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say
The women are among nearly two dozen people slated to be sent to a country where the U.S. government has advised “Do not travel for any reason.”
By Megha Rajagopalan and Hamed Aleaziz
June 11, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET

The Trump administration is preparing to deport nearly two dozen people to the Central African Republic on Thursday, including at least two Iranian women who had sought refuge in the United States, according to lawyers and a government official.

The flight, which is also expected to include migrants from Afghanistan and Syria, would mark the first such deportation to the Central African Republic, a deeply impoverished country that has been plagued by conflict. The country is so dangerous that the U.S. State Department states on its website, “do not travel for any reason.”

At least some of the migrants have received court orders in the United States prohibiting their deportation to their home countries because of the threat of persecution or torture, their lawyers said. Migrants face a higher burden of proof to win this “withholding of removal” status than they do to qualify for asylum.

The Trump administration is working to find ways to deport people despite these court orders. The government is cutting deals with other countries willing to take them. The U.S. has sought or signed agreements with dozens of countries, including Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini.

The Iranian women scheduled to be on Thursday’s flight have no criminal record and have been granted court protection against deportation to Iran, said Sahar Jalili Pawelski, one of their immigration lawyers. The precise circumstances of their cases were not immediately clear, but many Iranians who hold this protection fear persecution over their political beliefs or religious identity.

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