Across Africa, and in the tiny nation of Eswatini, fury has erupted over the arrival of foreign deportees from the United States, after its government confirmed that migrants described by a Department of Homeland security spokesperson as “depraved monsters” had been sent to its prisons.
Roughly the size of New Jersey, Eswatini — formerly known as Swaziland — is governed by a monarch who has absolute power. On Wednesday, officials said that five deportees from the US were being held in isolated units in its jails, acknowledging “widespread concern” but insisting the deported men “pose no threat to the country or its citizens.”
The five men are being kept in solitary confinement, acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli told CNN Friday, but stopped short of disclosing the prisons they were held in, citing security risks.
Mdluli did not reveal how long the men would stay in Eswatini, but said: “Critical engagements between stakeholders are still ongoing.” She had earlier stated that the deportation was the “result of months of robust high-level engagements” between the US and the southern African nation.
Critics of the move say it is unacceptable for Eswatini to be treated as a “dumping ground” for people considered unfit to live in the US.
US ‘pressure’ on African countries
While the Trump administration’s mass deportations to the prisons of El Salvador have made headlines around the world, the White House has also been quietly attempting to strike agreements with a number of African countries to accept deportees originally from other nations.
President Donald Trump’s aggressive clampdown on immigration has run into logistical hurdles, with some countries refusing to take back their nationals, or doing so only on a limited basis.
Some of those approached by the US, such as Nigeria, have decried being pressured to take in foreign deportees.
“The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prison,” Nigeria’s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said in a televised interview last week, citing Washington’s announcement of increased tariffs and recent reductions in the validity of visas.
The US Mission in Nigeria insisted visa changes were “not the result of any nation’s stance on third-country deportees” but rather “to safeguard US immigration systems.”
“The Trump Administration is committed to removing criminal illegal aliens from the United States,” a White House official told CNN in a statement. “The Administration frequently engages in conversations with foreign nations on a variety of topics, but we do not share information on private discussions.”