US has sent $7.5m to Equatorial Guinea to accept noncitizens deportees

Country is one of world's most repressive and corrupt, raising concerns over rights abuses of those deported

The United States has sent $7.5m to the government of Equatorial Guinea, one of the world's most repressive and corrupt regimes, to accept noncitizen deportees from the US to the West African nation, according to a leading congressional Democrat, current and former state department officials and public government data.

The money sent to Equatorial Guinea is the first taken from a fund apportioned by Congress to address international refugee crises - and sometimes to facilitate the resettlement of refugees in the US - that has instead been repurposed under the Trump administration to hasten their deportation.