US Deports 10 People to Eswatini Amid Legal Challenges

The United States has deported ten people to Eswatini, the second batch sent to the southern African kingdom under Washington’s controversial immigration deportation program. The move, rooted in the Trump administration’s hard-line approach to immigration enforcement, has reignited legal and political tensions in Eswatini.

Rights groups there are currently fighting a court case to block the deportations, arguing they violate both domestic and international law. Eswatini’s prison department confirmed that the latest arrivals have been “securely accommodated” and “pose no threat to the public.”

But human rights lawyer Mzwandile Masuku told the BBC he was “shocked and dismayed” by the government’s decision to accept the group while a separate court case, over the earlier arrival of five deportees in July, remains unresolved.

Those earlier deportees, originally from Jamaica, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen, were labelled “depraved monsters” by US officials. One Jamaican national has since been repatriated, while two others are reportedly awaiting transfer to their home countries.

In a statement, Eswatini’s government said it had agreed to receive 11 deportees under a cooperation deal with the US, though only ten ultimately arrived. Their identities have not been made public

The Eswatini deportations have drawn scrutiny not only for their secrecy but also for resembling recent transfers to other African countries.

In recent months, the US has deported groups of migrants and alleged offenders to Ghana and Rwanda, sparking public outrage and legal questions. Last month, several Nigerians deported via Ghana said they were “dumped at the border” after Nigerian authorities initially refused to receive them. Ghana’s government later condemned what it called an “uncoordinated and inhumane transfer.”

Similarly, rights organizations in Uganda and Sierra Leone have warned of alleged US attempts to deport non-citizens to countries with which they have no legal agreements.

One case that has come to symbolize these disputes is that of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man accused by US authorities of belonging to the MS-13 gang, a claim he denies. At one point, the Trump administration proposed deporting him to Eswatini, a country with which he had no connection. Though he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, a US court later ruled his prosecution may have been “vindictive.”

At the heart of the current controversy is a US–Eswatini agreement that Human Rights Watch says commits the kingdom to accept up to 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million (£3.79 million) in US funding to strengthen its “border and migration management capacity.”

Civil society organizationsincluding the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) argue that the deal is unconstitutional because it was signed without parliamentary approval. Activists have called it a “secretive and undemocratic regression” in a country still ruled by King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The government has defended its actions, insisting that it acted within constitutional bounds and that the deportees are being held “in a secure facility away from the public.”

Neighbouring South Africa has expressed concern that the deportees might attempt to cross its porous border, prompting assurances from Eswatini officials that security measures are in place.

Formerly known as Swaziland until 2018, Eswatini is a small, landlocked country bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. Since 1986, it has been ruled by King Mswati III, whose government has faced sustained criticism for its crackdown on dissent and resistance to democratic reforms.