JOHANNESBURG, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Eswatini has accepted 11 additional third-country deportees from the United States under a controversial bilateral agreement, bringing the total number of individuals transferred to the southern African kingdom to 30, according to a government statement issued on Thursday.
The statement from Eswatini's acting government spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, confirmed that a fourth group of third-country nationals arrived this week under an existing arrangement with Washington.
The statement noted that the individuals are "predominantly from African countries," though authorities declined to specify their exact nationalities or legal status.
The latest arrivals are expected to be housed at the Matsapha Correctional Center near Eswatini's administrative capital, Mbabane, where previous deportees have been held.
In 2025, the Trump administration introduced a third-country policy with several African countries, allowing the United States to deport immigrants described by officials as "so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won't take them back" to those countries.
The program began sending deportees to Eswatini last July. In return, the kingdom has received 5.1 million U.S. dollars from Washington as part of the arrangement, under which a total of 30 people have been transferred to Eswatini.
South Africa, which shares a 430-km border with Eswatini, has expressed deep concern over the arrangement from the outset. After the first batch arrived in Eswatini last July, it issued a statement saying that the reception of high-risk deportees could have an adverse impact on South Africa's national security and immigration policy. ■
