Washington: The US has deported eight people to South Sudan following a legal battle that saw them diverted to Djibouti for several weeks, BBC repoirted on Sunday. The men — convicted of crimes including murder, sexual assault and robbery — had either completed or were near the end of their prison sentences.

Only one of the eight is from South Sudan. The rest are nationals of Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and Mexico. US officials said most of their home countries had refused to accept them. The Trump administration is working to expand its deportations to third countries.

It has deported people to El Salvador and Costa Rica. Rwanda has confirmed discussions and Benin, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini and Moldova have been named in media reports as potential recipient countries. A photo provided by the department of homeland security to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, showed the men on the plane, their hands and feet shackled.

Officials did not say whether the South Sudanese government had detained them or what their fate would be. The country remains unstable and is on the brink of civil war, with the US State Department warning against travel because of “crime, kidnapping and armed conflict”.

The eight had initially been flown out of the US in May, but their plane was diverted to Djibouti after US district judge Brian Murphy in Massachu­setts blocked the deportation. He had ruled that migrants being deported to third countries must be given notice and a chance to speak with an asylum officer.

But last week, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration and overturned Judge Murphy’s ruling. On Thursday, the SC confirmed the judge could no longer require due process hearings, allowing the deportations to proceed.

Lawyers then asked another judge to intervene but he ruled only Judge Murphy had jurisdiction. Murphy said he had no authority to stop the removals due to the SC’s “binding” decision. Tricia McLaughlin from the department of homeland security called the South Sudan deportation a victory over “activist judges”.