Abdulai Daramy’s traumatic deportation raises concerns over US deal

The traumatic deportation experience of Abdulai Daramy, a Sierra Leonean who was forcibly removed from Germany in 2011, has brought renewed attention to concerns surrounding Sierra Leone’s reported agreement to receive third-country deportees from the United States.

Daramy said his experience of forced removal left him with physical and psychological scars that continued long after the deportation flight landed in Sierra Leone.

According to an account of his experience, Daramy suffered a broken hand during his transfer from a detention facility to a deportation flight in Germany.

But for him, the physical injury was only the beginning of a much deeper ordeal.

On his return to Sierra Leone, Daramy encountered other deportees struggling to rebuild their lives after forced removal. Many, he found, were confronted with rejection by families and communities, unemployment, poverty, psychological trauma and difficulties accessing healthcare and other basic support.

“I don’t want anyone else to experience what I experienced,” Daramy said.

His personal experience would later inspire efforts to support deportees through the Network of Ex-Asylum Seekers Sierra Leone, an organisation established by former deportees to assist people grappling with the consequences of detention, forced removal and difficult reintegration.

Daramy’s story has become particularly significant amid reports that Sierra Leone may receive third-country nationals deported from the United States under an arrangement between the two countries.

Reports indicate that an initial group of deportees has already arrived in Sierra Leone, including nationals of Ghana, Senegal, Guinea and Nigeria.

While the Sierra Leone Government has reportedly defended the arrangement as part of its diplomatic relationship with Washington, the experience of Daramy has raised a fundamental question: what happens to deportees after they arrive?

For Daramy and many other former deportees, the journey does not end when the aircraft touches down.

Instead, deportation can mark the beginning of another difficult struggle — finding accommodation, securing employment, overcoming social stigma, reconnecting with family and community, and coping with the psychological consequences of detention and forced removal.

Over the years, the Network of Ex-Asylum Seekers Sierra Leone has called for stronger government policies to support the reintegration of deportees, including welfare assistance and mental health support.

The reported US arrangement has, however, generated fresh concerns over whether Sierra Leone has the capacity to provide adequate support, protection and reintegration services not only for its own returning citizens but also for foreign nationals sent to the country.

The concerns are particularly significant following reports that some of the deportees are nationals of other West African countries.

Human rights observers and critics have also called for greater transparency over the arrangement, including clarification on the legal status of those deported to Sierra Leone, the procedures used to screen them and the safeguards available to protect their rights.

Questions have also been raised about what would happen to deportees who are unable or unwilling to return to their countries of origin after the expiration of any temporary residency arrangements.

Daramy acknowledged what he described as the political reality that Sierra Leonean civil society organisations and affected communities may have limited power to stop deportation policies agreed upon by more powerful governments.

However, he believes the process can still be made more humane.

Central to his concern is the need for former deportees and organisations with first-hand experience of forced returns to be involved in shaping policies that directly affect the lives of deportees.

Daramy’s experience, and those of other former asylum seekers, illustrates how the consequences of deportation can extend far beyond immigration enforcement and border control.

For many returnees, the most difficult part of the experience begins after deportation.

As Sierra Leone navigates growing controversy over the reported US deportation arrangement, Daramy’s story is expected to strengthen calls for greater transparency, legal safeguards and meaningful support for those sent to the country.

For former deportees, the central question is not simply whether Sierra Leone should receive deportees from other countries.

It is what becomes of them after the aircraft lands.I can also make it more investigative and hard-hitting, with a stronger focus on Daramy’s personal trauma as the opening angle.