Authorities in Eswatini confirmed on Monday that 10 migrants deported from the United States had landed in the southern African kingdom. This marks the latest group transferred under President Donald Trump’s new third-country deportation program.
The arrivals bring the total number of migrants sent to Africa since July to more than 40, following secretive bilateral arrangements the Trump administration reached with at least five African nations. Human rights organizations have condemned the program, warning it undermines due process and exposes deportees to potential mistreatment.
According to U.S.-based immigration attorney Tin Thanh Nguyen, two of the deportees were Vietnamese nationals previously detained at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana. Their flight reportedly departed from Alexandria, stopping in Puerto Rico, Senegal, and Angola before reaching Eswatini. Nguyen, who tracked the flight with support from Human Rights First, told the AP that the men were transferred without prior notice to their legal representatives.
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In a statement, the Eswatini government confirmed that the 10 deportees were “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities” and undergoing standard admission procedures. Authorities did not disclose their names, nationalities, or location, but said they were “in good health.”
While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has yet to comment, officials have previously maintained that the administration is “using every tool available to get criminal illegal aliens out of American communities.”
Eswatini has already been housing four men from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen who were deported in mid-July. Lawyers say the men have been held for nearly three months in the country’s maximum-security Matsapha prison without charge. A Jamaican national who arrived with that group was later repatriated.
The Eswatini government insists that all detainees are treated humanely, but local civic organizations have challenged their imprisonment, filing lawsuits over the legality of their detention. An Eswatini court recently granted a lawyer access to visit the men, but the government immediately appealed the decision, delaying contact.
READ ALSO: Deported immigrants held in solitary in Eswatini under U.S. third-country policy
Rights advocates say the opaque deportation agreements between the U.S. and several African nations, reportedly worth millions of dollars, raise serious ethical and legal concerns. Human Rights Watch claims to have reviewed documents indicating that Eswatini will receive $5.1 million to accept up to 160 deportees.
Other African countries, including South Sudan, Rwanda, and Ghana, have also received deportees under the same program. In South Sudan, six remain in custody at an undisclosed location, while seven in Rwanda have yet to be accounted for. In Ghana, eleven of fourteen deportees are suing the government, alleging inhumane conditions at a military camp near Accra.
Eswatini, a monarchy ruled by King Mswati III since 1986, has faced criticism for suppressing dissent and pro-democracy movements. Human rights advocates fear that sending migrants there, or to other nations with limited judicial oversight, leaves them vulnerable to abuse and indefinite detention.
READ ALSO: Lawyer claims Ghana sent back 11 U.S.-deported migrants despite risk concerns
