Eswatini’s government announced on Wednesday that it is detaining five foreign nationals deported from the United States in isolated prison units, under a bilateral arrangement aimed at eventual repatriation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday that a removal flight carrying convicted criminals from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen had landed in Eswatini after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed deportations to third countries whose own governments had refused to readmit them.
“Government acknowledges the widespread concern regarding the deportation of third‑country prisoners from the United States of America into the Kingdom of Eswatini,” acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said in a statement. “Indeed, five inmates are currently housed in our correctional facilities in isolated units, the result of months of robust high‑level engagements with the U.S. government.”
Eswatini, a landlocked kingdom of about 1.2 million people ruled by an absolute monarch since 1986, said it would work with the International Organization for Migration to arrange the return of the detainees to their countries of origin. The IOM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.