‘Not Trump's dumping ground': Outrage over arrival of foreign US deportees in tiny African nation

Yahoo

7 days ago

Across Africa, and in the tiny nation of Eswatini, fury has erupted over the arrival of foreign deportees from the United States, after its government confirmed that migrants described by a Department of Homeland security spokesperson as 'depraved monsters' had been sent to its prisons.
Roughly the size of New Jersey, Eswatini — formerly known as Swaziland — is governed by a monarch who has absolute power. On Wednesday, officials said that five deportees from the US were being held in isolated units in its jails, acknowledging 'widespread concern' but insisting the deported men 'pose no threat to the country or its citizens.'
The five men are being kept in solitary confinement, acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli told CNN Friday, but stopped short of disclosing the prisons they were held in, citing security risks.
Mdluli did not reveal how long the men would stay in Eswatini, but said: 'Critical engagements between stakeholders are still ongoing.' She had earlier stated that the deportation was the 'result of months of robust high-level engagements' between the US and the southern African nation.
Critics of the move say it is unacceptable for Eswatini to be treated as a 'dumping ground' for people considered unfit to live in the US.
US 'pressure' on African countries
While the Trump administration's mass deportations to the prisons of El Salvador have made headlines around the world, the White House has also been quietly attempting to strike agreements with a number of African countries to accept deportees originally from other nations.
President Donald Trump's aggressive clampdown on immigration has run into logistical hurdles, with some countries refusing to take back their nationals, or doing so only on a limited basis.
Some of those approached by the US, such as Nigeria, have decried being pressured to take in foreign deportees.
'The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prison,' Nigeria's foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said in a televised interview last week, citing Washington's announcement of increased tariffs and recent reductions in the validity of visas.
The US Mission in Nigeria insisted visa changes were 'not the result of any nation's stance on third-country deportees' but rather 'to safeguard US immigration systems.'
'The Trump Administration is committed to removing criminal illegal aliens from the United States,' a White House official told CNN in a statement. 'The Administration frequently engages in conversations with foreign nations on a variety of topics, but we do not share information on private discussions.'
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to deport certain migrants to countries other than their homeland with little notice. Soon after, eight third-country deportees said by the US to have criminal records landed in South Sudan, a nation on the cusp of civil war.
Who were the prisoners deported to Eswatini?
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X Wednesday that the five detainees flown to Eswatini were nationals from Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, Yemen and Vietnam.
'This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,' she wrote. 'These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to @POTUS Trump @Sec_Noem they are off of American soil,' McLaughlin added.
The prisoners were convicted of various crimes, including child rape, murder and robbery, she said.
Eswatini government spokesperson Mdluli said the nation would now collaborate with the US and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 'to facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin.'
She told CNN Thursday, however, that 'there are no timelines at present' for their repatriation.
Why are people outraged?
Eswatini's decision to accommodate America's deportees has met with widespread public disapproval, both due to the perceived risk around their presence and the US portrayal of the nation as a 'safe third country.'
The landlocked country of just over one million people is already beleaguered by poverty, unemployment, high crime rates and congested prisons. Human rights are also deteriorating, according to Human Rights Watch, following a wave of crackdowns on pro-democracy movements. More than half its population lives on less than $4 a day, according to the World Bank.
Opposition party PUDEMO said accepting foreign deportees from the US 'poses a serious risk to our already vulnerable communities' which it said are 'battling a severe scourge' of crime, including rape and murder.
'Our country must not be treated as a dumping ground for those deemed unfit to live elsewhere,' the group said in a statement sent to CNN.
Lucky Lukhele, of the Swaziland Solidarity Network, an exiled civil society group based in South Africa, told CNN it was 'clear racism to think Africa is a dumping ground for Donald Trump.'
Lukhele said he was informed by unnamed sources that more US deportees would be sent to Eswatini, warning that 'Swazi prisons are (already) overcrowded' with prisoners who 'get one meal a day.'
The Multi Stakeholder Forum (MSF), a coalition of Eswatini's civil society groups, said in a statement that the country's 'sovereignty and dignity must not be traded off for unclear deals or political expediency.'
It's not clear how Eswatini stands to benefit from housing US deportees. Government spokesperson Mdluli told CNN that 'the terms of the agreement (with the US) remain classified information.'
Asked whether more foreign US deportees would arrive in Eswatini, she said there was currently no information to that effect.
Eswatini's trade privileges with the US came under threat in April after it was included in Trump's list of tariffs, facing a rate of 10% on its exports. Its neighbor and biggest trading partner, South Africa, was also slapped with a 30% tariff, triggering panic from Eswatini's central bank on the 'implications' for its economy. The tariffs are due to come into effect on August 1.
Its intake of US deportees has similarly generated uproar in South Africa, whose relations with the US have deteriorated under Trump.
A South African government source told CNN, 'There is a feeling that some inside the Trump administration could be using this (the deportation of prisoners to Eswatini) to destabilize South Africa,' given its porous borders and Eswatini's struggling economy.
'Everyone knows that these fellows (the deported convicts) will want to move to South Africa' another diplomatic source said, adding that the US 'did (ask South Africa to accept migrants) and we refused.'
The source said the deportations to Eswatini were a provocation by the US and a direct national security threat.
Ken Opalo, an associate professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC, said African nations are being pushed by the Trump administration 'into doing egregious things such as accepting migrants from random countries or giving them (the US) their mineral wealth in ambiguous deals that don't make much sense.'
He cautioned: 'It's foolhardy for African countries to think that they can make deals and expect a credible commitment from the White House, given their transactional nature, which means everything is subject to change.'
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.
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