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Four undocumented migrants who were deported from the United States have arrived in the southern African kingdom of Eswatini.
A US-based migration lawyer, Alma David, who represents some of the other detainees, told AFP that two of the newly arrived deportees are from Somalia, one from Tanzania and one from Sudan.
A prison official told AFP that the four deportees arrived at the maximum-security Matsapha Correctional Centre, outside the capital, on Wednesday.
“They are in perfect health. They are currently being oriented by the social welfare and health departments,” the prison official said.
According to Eswatini authorities, the deportees are only being held while arrangements are finalised for their repatriation.
Human Rights Watch revealed that Eswatini agreed to take 160 deportees, under a third-country deportation programme that has been widely criticised by rights groups, in exchange for funds to build its border and migration management capacity.
The country took in 15 men in 2025 as part of the US’s deal with several African nations for them to accept migrants.
A 62-year-old Jamaican, one of the deportees sent to Eswatini, had reportedly completed a murder sentence in the United States and was sent back to the Caribbean island nation in September 2025.
Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have challenged the legality of the detentions, arguing that the deportees are being held “indefinitely” without charges.
Other African countries that have accepted U.S. deportees include Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Cameroon reportedly received 17 African nationals deported from the United States this year.
