Eswatini opposition parties reject acceptance of US deportees

The men, who are from Jamaica, Vietnam, Laos, Yemen and Cuba, were flown into the southern African country after the US Supreme Court cleared the way for deportations to "third countries."

Eswatini opposition leaders have labelled the act human trafficking disguised as a deportation deal. The men, who are convicted criminals, will be held in the country for 12 months.

Protesting outside the US embassy, opposition parties, joined by civil society organizations, held up signs with messages that read: "Take the five criminals back to the US", and "Eswatini is not a prison for US rejects."

In a statement, Eswatini's largest opposition party, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDemo), strongly condemned what they described as a treacherous and reckless decision by King Mswati III's regime to allow the US to send its most dangerous criminals into the country.

Addressing the comments, a prison spokesperson, Baphelele Kunene, urged citizens to remain calm. Meanwhile, speaking to local media, the Prime Minister, Russel Dlamini, expressed confidence that the government will safely manage the prisoners. "We can confirm that the five inmates in question have been admitted to one of our high-security centres where they are responding very well to the new environment," he said.

It is also expected that more deportees will be sent from the US. A government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, confirmed that the nation continues to negotiate with the US, and the number of deportees will be based on the availability of facilities.

The US has also deported eight people to South Sudan and more than 200 Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador.