US deportation of 11 to Eswatini unlawful, Amnesty says

Amnesty International has called the latest US deportation of 11 people to Eswatini unlawful, saying the African kingdom should stop accepting transfers under Washington's third-country deportation programme.

The group was flown to Eswatini on July 8. It was the fourth batch to arrive since July last year under a deal with the United States.

Amnesty said the transfer formed part of what it called the Trump administration's cruel and racist anti-immigrant policies. Flavia Mwangovya, the group's deputy regional director for east and southern Africa, said Eswatini authorities must stop facilitating the transfers.

The latest arrivals brought the number of US deportees being held in Eswatini to 29. Local sources told AFP that 10 of the latest group were from African nations and one was South American.

Eswatini says it plans to return the deportees to their countries of origin. A Jamaican and a Cambodian who arrived earlier have been repatriated.

Eswatini confirmed last year that it received about $5.1 million from the United States to accept 160 deportees. Human Rights Watch has reported that Rwanda reached a similar $7.5-million aid deal for 250 people. Other deportees have been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, or dropped off in South Sudan.