Vietnamese Man Repatriated After Lengthy Detention Abroad

WHO:

AP News - Tuan Phan, a 44-year-old Vietnamese national.

AP News - Agok Anyar, spokesperson for South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

AP News - Jesus Munõz-Gutierrez, another deportee repatriated to Mexico.

AP News - Dian Peter Domach, the only South Sudanese national in the group.

AP News - Michael Bochenek, senior counsel for Human Rights Watch.

WHAT:

AP News - Tuan Phan was repatriated to Vietnam after spending more than a year in detention.

AP News - Phan was deported to South Sudan under the Trump administration's third-country deportation program.

AP News - Eight men, including Phan, were sent to South Sudan after being rerouted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti.

AP News - More than 180 people have been sent to various countries under the third-country deportation program.

WHERE:

AP News - Juba, South Sudan, where Phan was detained.

AP News - Djibouti, where the men were initially rerouted.

AP News - The U.S. military base in Djibouti.

WHEN:

AP News - Phan was deported in May 2025 and arrived in Juba in July 2025.

AP News - Phan received a 25-year prison sentence in 2000.

AP News - Phan's removal from the U.S. was ordered in 2009.

WHY:

AP News - The deportation program is part of arrangements with at least seven African countries to accept deportees who are not their own citizens.

HOW:

AP News - Phan was held in a gated house under supervision by armed guards in South Sudan.

AP News - The U.S. agreed to pay millions of dollars to countries accepting deportees as part of the program.

(UPDATED June 19, 2026 14:17 UTC)

Tuan Phan, a 44-year-old Vietnamese national, has been repatriated to Vietnam after spending over a year in detention, initially being deported to South Sudan under Trump’s third-country deportation program. Along with Phan, seven other men were sent to South Sudan after being rerouted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti, part of an arrangement with several African countries to accept deportees who are not their own citizens. Phan was held in a gated house under armed guard in South Sudan, where the U.S. agreed to pay millions of dollars to countries accepting these deportees.