Eswatini Receives Two More US Deportees

Eswatini said it had received two more third-country nationals deported from the United States, bringing the total number of deportees to over 30 and identifying them as Latin American. The two arrivals were collected from King Mswati III International Airport around 4 p.m. local time and are set to be processed the following day. Washington’s $5.1 million agreement with Eswatini aims to bolster the kingdom’s border and migration management capacity, with the program designed to accept up to 160 deportees. The government says the deportations are temporary and that some deportees have voluntarily repatriated to join their families, while others have already returned home; activists and lawyers have challenged the arrangement on constitutional and human-rights grounds. Critics, including rights groups, say the program raises concerns about the treatment of deportees and the overall legality of the policy, which rides on a broader U.S. push to deport migrants to various regions. Eswatini, often criticized for its human rights record as Africa’s last absolute monarchy, remains at the center of ongoing tensions over this bilateral arrangement.