Mbabane: In the small African kingdom of Eswatini, the arrival of five men deported from the United States under Washington's aggressive anti-immigrant measures has sparked a rare wave of public dissent. The five, nationals of Vietnam, Laos, Yemen, Cuba, and Jamaica, were flown to Eswatini's administrative capital of Mbabane on July 16 on a US military plane and incarcerated after US authorities labeled them "criminal illegal aliens."
According to France24.com, the US Department of Homeland Security stated that the men were convicted of violent crimes "so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back." Civic and rights groups are now questioning whether more deportees from the United States will arrive and what rights the five men detained have. The lack of transparency surrounding the situation has led to public outrage, culminating in a protest by 150 women outside the US embassy in Mbabane on Friday.
The protest, organized by the Eswatini Women's Movement, called for the prisoners to be returned to the United States and questioned the legal basis Eswatini relied on to accept them. The five men are currently held in the Matsapha Correctional Centre, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Mbabane. This facility, notorious for overcrowding and housing political prisoners, has been undergoing renovations and expansions since 2018, reportedly funded by the United States as part of a program covering all 14 of the country's penal centers.
Sources within the penitentiary administration revealed that the men are being held in solitary confinement in a high-security section, with their requests to make phone calls being denied. However, the sources confirmed that the men have access to medical care, meals, and basic amenities such as a toilet, shower, and television in their cells. Despite calls from lawmakers and other quarters to lift the secrecy surrounding the agreement with Washington, Prime Minister Russell Dlamini has dismissed these demands, stating, "Not every decision or agreement is supposed to be publicly shared."
Eswatini is the second African country to receive deportees from the United States, following South Sudan's acceptance of eight individuals earlier this month. The situation has raised concerns about the potential implications for Eswatini, a nation already dealing with its own challenges under the absolute monarchy of King Mswati III, who has faced criticism for his lavish lifestyle and alleged human rights violations.
US President Donald Trump has previously used the threat of high tariffs against countries like Colombia to pressure them into accepting deportees. Eswatini currently faces a baseline US tariff of 10 percent, which is less than the 30 percent imposed on neighboring South Africa, but the government has indicated this will negatively impact the economy. Trump's administration has intensified efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States, resorting to so-called third-country deportations when the home nations of some deportees refuse to accept them. Rights experts warn that these deportations risk violating international law by sending individuals to countries where they could face torture, abduction, and other abuses.