MBABANE (Reuters) -Eswatini on Monday received 10 third-country nationals deported from the United States, it said, adding to an initial group of five deportees it received in July.
The Southern African country had announced on Sunday night that it was expecting to receive 11 deportees from the U.S. in October under an agreement with the Trump administration. It did not give their nationalities.
“His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) confirms the arrival of ten (10) third country nationals from the United States of America,” the government department said in a statement on Monday.
It said the individuals would be kept in correctional facilities until they could be repatriated to their home countries, and added that they were in good health and undergoing admissions processes.
There was no immediate statement from the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally and his administration has sought to ramp up removals to third countries as part of that crackdown.
The first five immigrants deported to Eswatini this year were from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen. One man, from Jamaica, has already been repatriated with the cooperation of his government.
Two others are expected to be repatriated soon, the statement from Eswatini said.
Eswatini, a small mountain kingdom bordering South Africa, has not disclosed the terms of its deal with the Trump administration and is facing a lawsuit from local activists who claim it was illegal.
Legal and human rights activists have also protested the treatment of the deportees, the first group of whom were held in solitary confinement.
“HMCS remains committed to the humane treatment of all persons in its custody,” the department of correctional services said in its statement.
(Reporting by Lunga Masuku; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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