US deportation scheme sees more migrants jailed in Eswatini

THE African kingdom of Eswatini said it received and jailed 10 more deportees from the US this week as part of a US scheme to expel undocumented migrants.

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Eswatini took in a first group of five men in July, with Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan also accepting US deportees in recent months in a programme criticised by rights groups.

The tiny southern African nation agreed in May to accept up to 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity”, according to a deal signed with the US.

Its correctional services department said in a statement this week it “confirms the arrival of 10 third country nationals from the United States of America”.

It did not give details but said they had been “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities” and the government would “facilitate their orderly repatriation”.

A US-based attorney representing some of the deportees said the new group included “three Vietnamese, one Filipino, one Cambodian”.