一名被美国驱逐至南苏丹的老挝男子，在被拘留一年多后已返回祖国。
A Laotian man deported by the U.S. to South Sudan has returned to his home country after more than a year in detention.
南苏丹朱巴，邓·马乔尔、约瑟夫·法尔泽塔报道——一名被美国驱逐至南苏丹的老挝男子，在非洲被拘留一年多后，于周四启程返回老挝。他的律师称，这一遭遇本可以避免。
DENG MACHOL, JOSEPH FALZETTA JUBA, South Sudan — A Laotian man deported by the United States to South Sudan left for Laos on Thursday after spending more than a year in detention in Africa, an ordeal his attorney said could have been avoided.
律师陈文表示，49岁的通赛·尼拉库特在美国将其驱逐至南苏丹之前，就已经愿意返回老挝。一名老挝领事官员曾告知他的家人，旅行证件已经签发。
Thongxay Nilakout 49, had been willing to return to Laos before the U.S. deported him to South Sudan, attorney Tin Nguyen said. A Lao consular officer had told his family that a travel document had already been issued.
陈文称，尼拉库特于周四下午离开南苏丹，前往老挝首都万象。自2025年7月起，他一直被拘留在南苏丹首都朱巴。
Nilakout left South Sudan on Thursday afternoon for Vientiane the capital of Laos, Nguyen said. He had been detained in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, since July 2025.
南苏丹外交部周四表示，该国已就其遣返事宜与老挝政府进行了协调，而老挝方面也保证他回国后不会遭受酷刑或其他虐待。
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had coordinated his repatriation with the government of Laos, which provided assurances against torture or other ill-treatment upon his return.
陈文在一份声明中表示：“通赛被驱逐回老挝不仅让他家人松了一口气，也证明了我们从一开始就提出的主张：他本应被送往老挝。”
“Thongxay’s deportation to Laos is not just a relief for his family, it is proof of what we argued from day one. He should have been sent to Laos,” Nguyen said in a statement.
美国国土安全部表示，正在准备回应有关尼拉库特案件的提问，并请求更多时间发表评论。
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was preparing a response to questions about Nilakout’s case and requested more time to comment.
2025年5月，尼拉库特与其他七名男子被送往非洲。此前，一名联邦法官在飞行途中阻止了他们被驱逐至南苏丹，因此他们被改道至吉布提的一处美军基地。随后，最高法院的裁决允许将他们驱逐出境，他们便乘坐军用飞机抵达朱巴。
Nilakout and seven other men were sent to Africa in May 2025, rerouted first to a U.S. military base in Djibouti after a federal judge blocked their deportation to South Sudan midflight. They arrived in Juba aboard a military aircraft after a Supreme Court ruling allowed their removal.
这八人被关押在一栋有武装守卫的围栏房屋中。他们均在美国有刑事定罪记录，但在被移民部门拘留前已经服完了刑期。
The eight were held in a gated house under armed guard. All had criminal convictions in the U.S. but had served their prison sentences before being taken into immigration custody.
据人权组织“人权第一”和“难民国际”称，已有数百人从美国被驱逐至并非其母国的非洲国家。这两个组织一直在对这些驱逐行动进行监督。
Hundreds have been deported from the U.S. to African countries that aren’t their home nations, according to advocacy groups Human Rights First and Refugees International, which have been monitoring the deportations.
目前约有十几个非洲国家同意接收美国遣返的外籍人员，其中一些国家是以获得数百万美元的资助作为交换条件；不过关于南苏丹接收遣返人员的协议细节仍不甚明朗。鉴于南苏丹糟糕的人权状况与政治动荡局面，选择该国作为接收地引发了诸多争议。据联合国统计，2025年该国的武装冲突导致超过50万人流离失所。
Around a dozen African countries have accepted third-country deportees from the U.S., some in exchange for millions of dollars in payments, though details of the South Sudan deal remain murky The choice of South Sudan was particularly controversial given its poor human rights record and political instability. Armed conflict displaced more than half a million people there in 2025, according to the United Nations.
尼拉库特的律师称，1980年尼拉库特随家人从老挝逃难至泰国，先在当地的难民营中生活了一段时间，随后以难民身份移居美国。
Nilakout resettled in the U.S. as a child in 1980 after his family fled Laos, spending time first in a refugee camp in Thailand, his attorney said.
1995年，因参与在南加州发生的一起持械抢劫案并杀害一名德国游客，时年17岁的尼拉库特被判处终身监禁且不得假释。
In 1995, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the murder of a German tourist during an armed robbery in southern California.
其律师表示，2012年美国最高法院裁定对未成年罪犯强制判处终身监禁且不得假释的做法违宪，此后尼拉库特便具备了申请假释的资格。他于2023年获释，出狱后从事餐馆厨师工作；2025年3月，美国移民和海关执法局将其逮捕。
He was 17 at the time of the crime. His attorney said he became eligible for parole after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders unconstitutional. He was released in 2023 and was working as a restaurant cook when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody in March 2025.
阮氏表示，最初被遣返的8人中，目前仍有4人留在南苏丹，其中包括两名缅甸籍人士与两名古巴籍人士。另有一名单独被遣返的刚果籍人士后来也加入了他们，因此目前滞留人数已增至5人。
Four of the original eight deportees remain in South Sudan, including two Burmese nationals and two Cuban nationals. A Congolese national deported separately has since joined them, bringing the total to five, Nguyen said.
南苏丹外交部证实，目前确有5名由第三国遣返的人员滞留该国，并称正与相关国家政府及国际合作伙伴协作，以确保这些人员能安全、体面地返回原籍国。法尔泽塔从肯尼亚内罗毕发回报道。
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that five third-country deportees remain in South Sudan and said it was working with the governments concerned and international partners to facilitate their safe and humane repatriation. Falzetta reported from Nairobi, Kenya.