WASHINGTON/NAIROBI, July 5 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has deported to South Sudan eight migrants who had been held for more than a month by the U.S. at a military base in Djibouti, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday, after the migrants lost a last-ditch effort to halt their transfer to the politically unstable country.

Courts blocked the handover after lawyers raised concerns of torture. Then the Supreme Court intervened to allow the Trump administration’s plan to move forward.

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