AT YOUNG AGES AND SOME PROBABLY IN THEIR TEENS while others were older, they went to the United States of America to be bonded with families, loved ones and to seek greener pastures from a country which is often projected as one filled with milk and honey.

FOR SOME, THEY WERE THE ONLY HOPE for their struggling families, hoping that some light would be shined on them and get lifted from a life of poverty.

ALL OF THAT WOULD BE SHORT LIVED when they became unsavory character, dabbling in a life of crime and everything wrong that would put their family at great shame in a country where gossips and rumors spread fster than the wind.

OTHERS LIED IN THEIR APPLICATION for political asylum, resident permit and citizenship and they got burned by the iron rod of the Department of Homeland Security who, soon after finding out, were placed on the bench those to be sent home to their real homeland, not the one they abandoned.

AND SO, CHAINED IN CUFFS and guarded by beefy and burly security guards in scenes reminiscent of Simon’s West Con Air which starred Nicolas Cage, twenty Liberians touched down the tarmac of the Roberts international Airport on Wednesday November 2, 2016 to a harsh reality of being back in a destitute country.

FOR A WHILE NOW THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA has been pressuring the Liberian government to accept scores of Liberians who were on deportation list as it’s become President Obama’s last wish to reduce the prison population in America before he leaves office.

AS THORNY AS IT SEEMS IN THE FLESH OF UNCLE SAM, the Gambia has refused to accept this decision, which has sparked a row between the two countries, leading America to halt the issuance of visas to officials of the Gambia government.

NO BAD BUSH TO THROW A CHILD, we’d say in Liberia, as brethren from the motherland came and were welcomed by their families. Some were disappointed by the outcome of a dream which had turned out to be worse from what they had dreamt of.

THAT ASIDE, AS THEY HAVE ARRIVED HOME, it is our hopes that these deported Liberians atone for the mistakes they have made as there’s always a chance for a second impression.

YES THEY MAY BE SHOCKED that some of the basic necessities that they had in the U.S. and took granted of is not in Liberia, but hey, whose actions led to them coming home?

A GOOD EXAMPLE TO LOOK at and be proud of is a man who was sent back home from the States with not a penny many years ago. Today’s he’s the proud owner of a radio station which is spreading its tentacles across the country. The years of purgatory are over for him to return but he’s loving life back here and his dream is to make sure his radio be heard across the country.

SURELY THAT IS SOMETHING the brethren can be proud to emulate. Welcome back!!!!

Monrovia – The mother of one of the deportees who returned to Liberia Wednesday has described her son’s return as heart breaking.

Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo/ bettie.johnson@frontpageafricaonline.com

Unable to hide her agony, with tears-filled eyes, Madam Cecelia Koon pleaded with FrontPage Africa not to take her photo, noting that her son’s deportation was not encouraging news for her and her family.

She told FrontPageAfrica that her son left for the United States of America with his father when he was 17 years old to further his studies.

Cecelia was embarrassed to mention her son’s name, but said it was unfortunate that he followed bad friends in the States.

“He is my only child. It is heart breaking to see the way in which he is returning home to me after he went with his father for studies; don’t take my picture all I can say is it’s heart-breaking and unfortunate,” she lamented.

The United States on Wednesday deported over 20 Liberians after they successfully served their respective sentences for various crimes they committed in the States.

The deportees were received by the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) and then turned them over their relatives who signed for them.

They were transported from the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County in a BIN truck with police escort to the BIN headquarters in Monrovia.

They were mostly dressed in white T-shirt and carried their belongings in rice bags.

“My people, the United States say they don’t want me again because I beat my girlfriend’s daughter,” one of the deportees told his family members as he came out from BIN premises with his hands lifted in the air.

Alice Walker is a cousin of one of the deportees. She told FrontPage Africa, “My first cousin is among them. I am not happy at all.”

“My first cousin is among them, I am not happy at all because he went there when he was a very small child; if a child is coming from the United States good it makes you proud.

Instead, coming back through deportation, one can’t be happy because the name ‘deportee’ is not good.”

Several motorcyclists and other bystanders flooded the around the BIN headquarters to have a peek at the deportees.

‘From Heaven to Hell’

Charles Binda, a motorcyclist, told FrontPageAfrica  – “For me, it is frustrating. I can’t go to America and they send me back because it’s like from heaven to hell. Their deportation has shown to the American people that we (Liberians) are not serious people,” he said

A resident of 9^th Street, Lamin Dolo also said: “I was passing and I saw the place overcrowded so I came to see, I feel very hurt about Liberians being deported because some of them, when they go to the States, they failed to know they are from Liberia but took the style of U.S Citizen.”

Some of the deportees include: Jeffery Gbatu (possibly due to PRC legacy), Daryl Davies (Assault), Charles Dobson (Marijuana), Henry Giko (Assault),  Kelvin Momo (Aggravated assault), Klah Richards (Drugs).

Preferential Treatment

Jeffery Gbatu, a former member of the 17-member Council of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC) which led the assassination that ended more than a decade of Americo-Liberian and a former Speaker of the House during President Samuel K. Doe’s regime was among the deportees.

He was given preferential treatment as they arrived at the RIA airport. He was escorted by the police in the BIN Commissioner’s official vehicle.

Gbatu was a Colonel of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Speaker of the Interim National Assembly at the time of the 1980 coup d’état that toppled the government of President William R. Tolbert. 

Sources hinted FrontPage Africa that one of the deportees – Varney Doe – believed to be the one former President Doe was received by his family at the airport upon arrival based on an arrangement the family made with President Ellen Johnson. FrontPageAfrica could not independently verify this information.

According to BIN Commissioner Lemuel Reeves, though the deportees served their sentences in the United States, they would still be observed for three months here in Liberia.

“They must be accepted in the country and integrated in the society. They must report to us twice a week that is Monday and Friday so that they can’t get on the contrary,” Reeves said.

FrontPage Africa reported last week that Washington was piling pressure on Liberia to deport scores of Liberians said to be on deportation watch as President Barack Obama is in rush to reduce the prison population before leaving office.

The seriousness of the action was shown when the U.S. took a decision on October 1, 2016 that it would no longer issue new visas to officials of the Gambian government, their spouses or children, due to a longstanding dispute over President Yahya Jammeh’s government’s refusal to accept Gambian citizens being deported from the U.S.