Five men have reportedly been sent to Eswatini by the United States as part of the Trump administration’s expansion of its third-country deportation program, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.
The deportation program which began in June saw the deportation of eight men to South Sudan, following the Supreme Court’s removal of restrictions on sending individuals to nations where they lack connections.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a recent post regarding the deportation stated that the men, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos, arrived in Eswatini via plane.
According to her they are all convicted criminals and are seen as “individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.”
Eswatini authorities have not yet commented on any agreements to accept third-country deportees or the fate of these individuals in their nation.
The Trump administration has however shared plans of establishing more agreements with African countries to accept deportees from the U.S. Some African nations- including Nigeria have already resisted the move by the U.S who is said to see Africa as a drop-site for deportees who are citizens of other countries.
