Central African Republic: US Deportations to CAR and Deadly Gold Mine Collapse

The Trump administration has deported some immigrants to the Central African Republic rather than to their countries of origin, according to NPR and CBS News. Among those deported was a relative of Afghans who had assisted the U.S. military; his family in Afghanistan reportedly received threats from the Taliban due to his brothers' work supporting U.S. forces. CBS News reported speaking with two men who were sent to CAR instead of their home countries, though the specific reasons for selecting CAR as a deportation destination were not detailed in the available reporting. Separately, more than 100 people died after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in the village of Zamboye, in western Central African Republic, approximately 50 kilometers from the town of Baboua near the Cameroon border, according to ABC News and The Guardian. The collapse occurred on a Tuesday afternoon and was caused by a landslide; social media footage appeared to show sand engulfing a group of workers believed to be miners. Local officials and aid workers said on Wednesday that recovery efforts were ongoing but hampered by a lack of equipment and expertise, and that the death toll was likely to rise. As of the latest reporting, recovery operations at the mine site continued, with hopes of finding survivors fading. The exact final death toll had not been confirmed, and the total number of individuals affected by the deportations to CAR, along with further details on their circumstances, remained unclear based on available reporting. A separate, unrelated bus-and-lorry collision in Brazil that killed more than 20 people was also reported but has no established connection to events in the Central African Republic.