MBABANE – Ten more developing country nationals deported from the United States were jailed in Eswatini yesterday, the government said, as part of a US scheme to expel undocumented migrants.
Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan have in recent months accepted US deportees as part of the scheme, which has been criticised by rights groups.
The small southern African kingdom’s correctional service “confirms the arrival of 10 third country nationals from the United States of America,” it said in a statement.
It did not give any details of the people who arrived Monday but said they had been “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities” and the government would “facilitate their orderly repatriation”.
The country in July accepted five nationals from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen.
It said they had been convicted of crimes in the United States, including child rape and murder.
They were jailed at Eswatini’s maximum security Matsapha Correctional Centre which is notorious for holding political prisoners and for overcrowding.
Among them was a 62-year-old Jamaican national, who had reportedly completed a sentence for murder in the United States, who was sent to Jamaica around two weeks ago.
Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have gone to court to challenge the legality of the detentions and demand the government make public the terms of its deal with Washington.
Human Rights Watch said last month that, according to its information, the deal between the United States and Eswatini involved financial assistance of US$5.1 million to build its border and migration management capacity.
In return, Eswatini agreed to accept up to 160 deportees, HRW said in a statement.
It urged African governments to refuse to accept US deportees and to terminate deals already in effect, saying they violated global rights law.
US President Donald Trump has overseen a drastic expansion of the practice of deporting people to countries other than their nation of origin, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
But rights experts have warned the deportations risk breaking international law by sending people to nations where they face the risk of torture, abduction and other abuses.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and landlocked by neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986 and his government has been accused of human rights violations.
– Nampa/AFP