Eswatini To Repatriate U.S. Deportees

The Kingdom of Eswatini has announced its decision to repatriate five migrants who were recently deported there by the United States, despite not being citizens of the southern African nation. The move comes a day after U.S. officials defended the deportations, stating that the migrants’ home countries had declined to accept them.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the deportees—originating from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba—had served prison terms in the U.S. for serious criminal offenses. Their removal marked the first execution of a controversial third-country deportation policy since the U.S.

Supreme Court allowed the Trump-era measure to proceed earlier this month.
The U.S. government justified the deportations by claiming that the migrants’ countries of origin had refused repatriation. “The flight included individuals whose own countries refused to take them back,” stated DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

However, Eswatini swiftly countered the U.S. narrative. In an official statement on Wednesday, government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli clarified that Eswatini was not the intended final destination for the deportees. Rather, the country had agreed to serve as a transit hub, working with the United States and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to ensure the individuals are returned to their respective home countries.

“The governments of Eswatini and the United States, along with the International Organization for Migration, will facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin,” Mdluli said.

The IOM, however, has distanced itself from the operation, stating it had no involvement in the migrants’ removal from the U.S. and was not asked to assist in their repatriation. This raises further questions about the coordination—or lack thereof—surrounding this deportation effort.

The case has sparked renewed debate over the ethics and legality of third-country deportations, particularly when they involve countries that may have had little prior connection to the individuals being removed. Critics argue that such measures may amount to diplomatic coercion and violate international norms regarding state sovereignty and refugee protections.

As Eswatini moves to return the deportees to their rightful homelands, the incident highlights growing tensions over immigration enforcement, international cooperation, and the responsibilities of both sending and receiving nations in addressing the global challenges of migration and deportation.