CNN
–
All of Africa and in small Esvatini countries, anger exploded upon the arrival of foreign exiles from the United States after the government confirmed that immigrants, which a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security described as “an escaped monster” had been sent to the prison.
Esvatini, roughly the size of New Jersey, was previously known as Swaziland, but is ruled by a monarch with absolute power. On Wednesday, authorities said five U.S. deportees are currently being detained in isolated prison forces, and have acknowledged “wide-wide concerns,” but the deported man claimed “no threat to the country or its citizens.”
According to a statement by representative government spokesman Thabile Mdluli, the deportation was the result of “a robust high level of engagement” between the US and Southern African countries.
Critics of the move say it is unacceptable that Esvatini will be treated as a “trash dump” for people who don’t seem to deserve to live in the United States.
While the Trump administration’s massive deportation to Salvador prisons has made headlines around the world, the White House is also quietly trying to reach agreements with many African countries to accept original deporters from other countries.
President Donald Trump’s aggressive clampdown on immigration encountered logistics hurdles as he refuses to regain its citizens or refuses to do so on a limited basis.
Some of the US approaching people, such as Nigeria, have accused them of being pressured to bring foreign deporters.
“The US is putting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans being deported from the US, something straight from prison,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tagger said in an interview aired last week, citing the announcement of an increase in Washington’s tariffs and recent recent cuts in visa validity.
Nigeria’s US mission argued that visa changes were “not the result of the state’s stance towards deportees from third countries” and “to protect the US immigration system.”
“The Trump administration is committed to removing criminally illegal aliens from the United States,” a White House official told CNN in a statement. “The administration frequently engages in conversations with foreign countries on a variety of topics, but does not share information about private discussions.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to send certain immigrants out of the country, almost notifying countries outside their homes. Shortly afterwards, the eight third-country deporters would land criminal records in South Sudan, a country in the cusp of the Civil War.
DHS spokesman Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on Wednesday in X that the five detainees who flew to Eswatini are citizens of Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, Yemen and Vietnamese.
“This flight is a very wild bar so our homeland refused to take them back,” she wrote. “These PR-dropped monsters are terrifying the American community, but thanks to @potus Trump@sec_noem, they’re out of American soil,” added McLaughlin.
The prisoner was convicted of a variety of crimes, including child rape, murder and robbery, she said.
Mdluli, the government spokesman for the Eswatini, said the country is currently working with the US and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to “promote the transport of these inmates to their countries of origin.”
However, she told CNN on Thursday that she “doesn’t have a current timeline” for their repatriation.
Esvatini’s decision to deal with American deporters is met with widespread public disapproval due to the perceived risks surrounding their existence and the portrayal of the United States as a “safe third country.”
Landlocked countries with just over a million people are already plagued by poverty, unemployment, high crime rates and crowded prisons. Human rights have worsened following a wave of crackdown on democratic movements, according to human rights surveillance. According to the World Bank, more than half of the population lives less than $4 a day.
Opposition party Pudomo said accepting foreign exiles from the US “poses a serious risk to already vulnerable communities.”
“Our country should not be treated as a garbage dump for people deemed unsuitable to live elsewhere,” the group said in a statement sent to CNN.
“It’s clear racism to think of Africa as a dumping ground for Donald Trump,” said Lucky Lefele of Swaziland Solidarity Network, a South Africa-based exile civil society group.
Lukhele warned that “the prisons in Swazi are (already) overcrowded” and “get one meal a day,” and that he was notified by sources who were notified that more U.S. deportees would be sent to Eswatini.
The Multistakeholder Forum (MSF), a coalition of Esvatini civil society groups, said in a statement that the country “should not exchange sovereignty and dignity for unclear transactions or political convenience.”
It is not clear how Eswatini will benefit US deporters from housing. “The terms of the contract (with the US) remain classified information,” government spokesman Mdluli told CNN.
Asked if more foreign US deporters would arrive at Esvatini, she said she currently has no information on its effectiveness.
Eswatini’s trade privilege with the US was threatened in April after being included on Trump’s tariff list and faced a 10% share of exports. Its neighbour and largest trading partner South Africa was also slapped at 30% tariffs, causing panic from Eswatini’s central bank to “meaning” for its economy. The duties are scheduled to come into effect on August 1st.
Utilization of US deportees has also produced a fuss in South Africa, with its relations with the US worsening under Trump.
A South African government source told CNN “I feel that within the Trump administration this (deportation of prisoners) is being used to destabilize South Africa.”
“Everyone would want these companions (deported prisoners) to move to South Africa,” another diplomatic source said, adding that the US “refused to ask South Africa to accept immigrants.”
Sources said the deportation to Esvatini was a provocation by the US and a direct national security threat.
Ken Opalo, Associate Professor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Georgetown University Washington, DC said African countries are being forced by the Trump administration to do terrible things like accepting random immigrants from random countries or giving them (the US) to them, and giving them a little meaningless, ambiguous deal.”
He warned: “To think that African countries can do business is stupid to expect a reliable commitment from the White House given the nature of their tradeability.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Mary Kay Mallonee of CNN contributed to this report.
