Under a $7.5 million agreement with the Trump administration, Equatorial Guinea has converted a hotel owned by the country's ruling family into a detention facility for asylum seekers deported from the United States.

The Bamy Hotel in Malabo has held at least 32 people since November, according to reporting by the Associated Press, which visited the facility. All detainees had previously been granted protection by U.S. immigration judges, their lawyers said. Of those detained, 25 have been forced to return to their home countries across Africa, while the remainder face pressure from authorities to leave.

Detainees described living in hotel rooms under constant surveillance, unable to use amenities like the swimming pool. They reported being served meals in the hotel restaurant but said medical care has been inconsistent. One detainee said he was hospitalized immediately for an eye problem but had to wait until his condition severely deteriorated before receiving treatment for malaria and typhoid.

The facility operates under what immigration lawyers describe as a legal workaround that allows the U.S. to indirectly return asylum seekers to countries they fled. The Trump administration has established similar agreements with nearly two dozen countries, mostly in the developing world, according to advocacy groups.

Equatorial Guinea is led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled for 57 years. The oil-rich country is among Africa's wealthiest nations but faces widespread poverty and has been criticized by the U.S. State Department for human rights abuses. The country's vice president, Obiang's son, had international sanctions lifted by the U.S. in September, weeks before deportations to the facility began.

The Trump administration declined to comment on details of the agreement, with a State Department spokesperson saying only that the U.S. remains committed to ending illegal immigration. Equatorial Guinea's government did not respond to requests for comment.