Amnesty International has condemned the United States’ latest deportation of 11 migrants to Eswatini, describing the move as unlawful and accusing the administration of pursuing “cruel and racist” immigration policies.
The group arrived in the southern African kingdom on Wednesday, marking the fourth batch of deportees sent to Eswatini since July last year under a third-country deportation arrangement between the two countries.
In a statement issued on Friday, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya, urged Eswatini to halt its participation in the programme.
“The Eswatini authorities must stop facilitating these unlawful transfers,” the rights organisation said.
The latest arrivals bring the total number of US deportees currently being held in Eswatini to 29 under agreements that allow several African countries to receive migrants deported from the United States.
According to local sources, 10 of the newly deported individuals are from African countries, while one is from South America.
Amnesty International said the deportations form part of what it described as the US administration’s “cruel and racist anti-immigrant policies” and called on Washington to end the programme.
The organisation urged the United States to immediately dismantle what it described as its mass detention and deportation system.
Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, has said it plans to repatriate the deportees to their countries of origin. Two earlier deportees from Jamaica and Cambodia have already been returned home.
Last year, Eswatini confirmed it received about $5.1 million from the United States under an agreement to accept up to 160 deportees.
Human Rights Watch has also reported that Rwanda reached a similar agreement with Washington worth $7.5 million to receive 250 deportees. Other migrants have reportedly been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and conflict-hit South Sudan as part of the programme.
