The United States has deported dozens of migrants who identified as LGBT to African countries where same-sex relationships are criminalised or where LGBT people face documented hostility.
A Reuters investigation found 40 cases involving LGBT migrants who were sent to third countries, including Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Eswatini.
Some had previously received legal protection in the US because of persecution they faced due to their sexual orientation.
The deportations are part of the Trump administration’s wider “third-country” deportation policy, which allows migrants to be sent to countries other than their own.
The US government says the policy is a tool for removing people with final deportation orders, while rights groups have raised concerns about persecution and due process.
The US Supreme Court has temporarily allowed the policy to continue, with arguments on the legality of the programme expected in December.
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