Eswatini accepts 10 deportees from the United States despite a legal challenge

The United States has expelled 10 people in Eswatini despite defense of rights in the state of southern Africa, legal action to block the plan.

This is the second batch of deportees that the Trump administration sent to Eswatini as part of its hard line approach to immigration.

The 10 were “safely” and did not lay down any threats to the public, the Eswatini prison department said in a statement.

Eswatini’s human rights lawyer Mzwandile Masuku told the BBC that he was “shocked and dismayed” that the government had taken in the group, despite a complaint in progress against the arrival of five deportees in July.

The United States had described the five – Jamaica, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen – like “depraved monsters”.

Jamaican has since been repatriated to her country of origin, while two others were to be repatriated soon, said the government of Eswatini.

On Sunday, in a statement, the government said that it would take 11 deportees following an agreement with the United States “to cooperate in this way”.

This did not explain why only 10 had happened.

Their names were not made public.

The BBC reported in September that the Trump administration had declared to Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran at the center of a long -standing immigration line, it could be expelled to the Kingdom of Southern Africa.

The administration alleys that he was a member of a transnational Salvado gang MS-13, which he denies.

He was wrongly expelled to Salvador in March, then returned to the United States where he was detained and accused of human smuggling. He pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, an American federal accusation ruled that Mr. Garcia’s prosecution could be for “vindictive” reasons, and he would hear more evidence before making a final decision.

The BBC asked the Eswatini government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli, whether or not the last group was expelled.

In a previous press release, she said that the deportees would be preserved in a “separate secure area of ​​the public, while arrangements are made for their return to their country of origin”.

Their arrival occurs one day before a judicial case against deportations could resume in the main city, Mbabane.

Mr. Masuku, who represents civil society groups contesting the agreement, said that he expected the government “respects the judicial process and awaits its decision” before accepting more deportees.

In September, the Human Rights Watch campaign group (HRW) said it had seen the agreement between Eswatini and American governments.

He plans to Eswatini to accept up to 160 deportees in exchange for $ 5.1 million (3.79 million pounds sterling) in the United States to strengthen his “migration management capacity,” said HRW.

The Southern African Center for Africa (SALC) – as well as other civil society groups – maintains that the government’s decision is equivalent to “excessive executives” and that the constitution of ESWATINI stipulates that such agreements should be concluded with parliamentary consent, something that has not happened in this case.

Activists also protested the agreement outside the United States Embassy when the first deportees arrived.

Civic groups say that the agreement is secret and an example of “democratic regression”, 20 years after Eswatini adopted a constitution to give more words to say to Parliament in a country where the king has long exercised absolute power.

“We would have planned that this stage reflects a maturation of our democracy – a stronger rule of law, greater responsibility and a clearer separation of powers,” said the Simelane of Salc to the BBC.

The government defends the case, claiming that it acted in its powers and that the Constitution makes allowances to conclude such agreements with foreign governments.

Some deputies of Eswatini had previously raised concerns concerning the agreement to Parliament, but Prime Minister Russell Dlamini said that he had been managed at the “higher level of clearance”.

The agreement also alarmed southern South Africa, which expressed fears that deportees could cross the country via their porous border.

Ms. MDLULI tried to appease fears by saying that the deportees were held in isolation in a secure establishment.

Previously known as Swaziland, Eswatini is a small country without coast surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique. It has been led by King Mswati III since 1986.