Spending the last five days locked up in a hotel in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not quite what a group of Latin Americans expected when they sought asylum in the United States.
But their situation is far from the worst: these men and women told AFP on Wednesday that they arrived in Kinshasa after a 27-hour flight during which they had their hands and feet shackled.
Gabriela, a 30-year-old Colombian woman with tattoos, dressed, like most of her unfortunate companions, in a white t-shirt, summed up their ordeal.
"I didn't want to go to Congo. I'm scared, I don't know the language," she said.
She only discovered their destination the day before their expulsion from the United States.
The DRC — one of many African countries that have agreed to take in deported migrants — is among the 15 poorest countries in the world, thousands of kilometers from the American continent.
The first group of people deported arrived last Friday in this Central African country as part of a controversial US program to return undocumented foreign nationals to third countries.
Other countries include Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan.
This program is often accompanied by financial or logistical support from the United States.
However, the authorities of host countries provide little information on the fate of migrants once they have reached their territory.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which takes charge of them once they have obtained short-stay visas, told AFP that it could offer "assisted voluntary return to migrants who request it".
On hold
Since their arrival in Kinshasa, a megacity of more than 17 million inhabitants, the 15 South American migrants have been spending their time in a complex located near the airport.
Rows of neat little houses with white walls stand side by side. Migrants sleep there and claim they are forbidden from leaving.
Police and army vehicles are parked outside, and sometimes agents from a private military company that AFP was unable to identify can be seen.
Left behind by US President Donald Trump's immigration policy, migrants spend their days on their cell phones, trying to contact their families.
None of them speak French, the official language of the DRC.
They claim to have received about $100 in aid from IOM officials, but are not allowed to receive any visitors.
“Several of our friends have fallen ill, just like me,” said Gabriela.
"We've had fever, vomiting, and stomach problems. But we're told that's normal and that we have to adapt."
Some received medication, but Gabriela indicated that no healthcare professional had come to examine them.
Four hotel residents stated that they had received a seven-day visa, renewable for three months.
But once those seven days were over, they said they were threatened with no further assistance and would be left to fend for themselves.
"They cornered us because they told us: if you don't accept the repatriation program, you'll be stuck in a quagmire here in Congo," said Gabriela, visibly upset.
"It's inhumane and unjust."
Fear
The noisy chaos of the overcrowded Congolese capital echoes behind the hotel walls.
A constant stream of minibuses and cars honk their horns on a road full of potholes, surrounded by dilapidated buildings.
Most of Kinshasa's residents do not have reliable access to running water or electricity.
Nearly three-quarters of Congolese people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
The arrival of South American migrants has sparked strong reactions within Congolese civil society and on social media.
"I receive three meals a day, the hotel staff clean the rooms and we are well protected," said Hugo Palencia Ropero, a 25-year-old Colombian who claimed to have spent five months in detention in the United States before being deported to the DRC.
But he added: "I'm more afraid of being here in Africa than I am in Colombia."
If seven days go by without us receiving any additional help, the situation will become very difficult for us, especially since we don't have work permits.
He stated that he was prepared to accept "any travel document" just to "be able to leave this country."
