Mbabane — Eswatini on Monday received 10 third-country nationals deported from the US, it said, adding to an initial group of five deportees it received in July.
Eswatini announced on Sunday night that it was expecting to receive 11 deportees from the US in October under an agreement with the Trump administration. It did not give their nationalities.
“His Majesty’s Correctional Services confirms the arrival of 10 third-country nationals from the US,” the government department said in a statement on Monday.
It said the individuals would be kept in correctional facilities until they could be repatriated to their home countries, and added that they were in good health and undergoing admissions processes. There was no immediate statement from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who are in the US illegally and his administration has sought to ramp up removals to third countries as part of that crackdown.
The first five immigrants deported to Eswatini this year were from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen. One man, from Jamaica, has already been repatriated with the co-operation of his government. Two others are expected to be repatriated soon, Eswatini’s statement said.
Eswatini has not disclosed the terms of its deal with the Trump administration and is facing a lawsuit from local activists who claim it was illegal. Legal and human rights activists have also protested the treatment of the deportees, the first group of whom were held in solitary confinement.
The department of correctional services said in its statement that it “remains committed to the humane treatment of all persons in its custody”.
Reuters
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