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4h ago

Eswatini Accepts Fourth Group of U.S. Third‑Country Deportees

The arrival deepens scrutiny of secret U.S. deals that pay partner states and leave many transferred people held in high‑security detention without public charges.

FILE - The Matsapha Correctional Complex in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
The group was the fourth batch of deportees to arrive in Eswatini since July last year
Eswatini is Africa's last absolute monarchy
(FILES) Hugo Palencia Ropero, 25, a Colombian national expelled from the United States, sits outside his room at a hotel in Kinshasa on April 22, 2026. The United States is using visa bans and restrictions on African countries to strongarm them into taking people from third countries as part of Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, two former State Department officials told AFP. Lawyers say deportees have been thrown into a "legal black hole", held without charge in countries they have no ties to, and few if any rights in. Even those deported to stable democracies like Ghana have been abused, dumped by security forces in neighbouring Togo, without papers. (Photo by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP)

Overview

  • A fourth group of 11 people flown from the United States arrived in Eswatini this week and were taken into custody for processing, officials and reporting said.
  • Eswatini says the arrivals are mostly citizens of other African countries and that they will be held temporarily with their rights protected while authorities arrange repatriation.
  • Documentary reporting and government statements show Eswatini accepted the transfers after receiving about $5.1 million and agreeing — in a Human Rights Watch‑seen document — to take up to 160 third‑country deportees in exchange for migration support.
  • Human rights groups and local lawyers warn many transferred people have been held in the high‑security Matsapha prison without charge, some had legal protections that advocates say should have prevented removal, and civic groups have launched court challenges.
  • The transfers form part of a wider U.S. third‑country deportation program that uses small charter flights and diplomatic incentives to place people in multiple African states, a practice that critics say lacks transparency and risks normalizing indefinite detention.