Ten migrants deported from the United States arrived in Eswatini early Monday, officials confirmed. They are the latest group sent under the Trump administration’s largely secretive third-country deportation program, which has drawn criticism from rights groups.
The deportees flew from Alexandria, Louisiana, with stops in Puerto Rico, Senegal, and Angola, according to Tin Thanh Nguyen, a U.S.-based lawyer representing two Vietnamese nationals on the flight. The migrants had been held at the Alexandria Staging Facility prior to departure. Nguyen tracked their journey with help from Human Rights First.
The Eswatini government stated the 10 deportees are “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities,” are in good health, and are undergoing admission procedures. Authorities did not release the deportees’ names, nationalities, or facility location.
In mid-July, four men from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen were deported to Eswatini and held in Matsapha maximum-security prison without charge for nearly three months. The U.S. says those men had deportation orders following criminal convictions. A Jamaican deportee from that group has since returned home.
Eswatini authorities allow the deported men to call family and lawyers in the U.S., but have blocked a local lawyer from visiting them despite a court order. The U.S. has referred questions on their treatment to Eswatini officials.
Human rights groups have criticized the program for sending migrants to countries where they may lack due process. Documents obtained by Human Rights Watch show the U.S. will pay Eswatini $5.1 million to accept up to 160 deportees.
Under the same program, the U.S. has sent deportees to South Sudan, Rwanda, and Ghana, with an agreement in place with Uganda. Conditions in the other countries remain opaque, with several deportees reporting poor treatment or being held in undisclosed facilities.
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