Why is Liberia taking in 1200 US deportees?

Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 third-country deportees from the US in the next 12 months, with an initial group of 20 deportees expected to arrive on Thursday, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Since taking office in January last year, the Trump administration has struck several deals with African countries on deporting people it cannot legally send to their home countries.

The deportees have in most cases obtained legal protection against repatriation after US immigration judges ruled they risked torture or other abuses in their home countries.

Washington has defended the third-country deals as lawful, although rights groups and advocates have said the details are opaque and many of the deportees are ultimately repatriated.

The Liberian government's statement said the deportees "will include citizens or nationals of African and Western Hemisphere countries who are medically authorised to travel."

No information was immediately available on the nationalities of the deportees. The State Department said it does not disclose such details.