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5h ago

Eswatini Receives New U.S. Deportation Flight as Third-Country Program Expands

The transfer spotlights a secretive U.S. scheme that pays partner nations to hold deportees for later return home.

FILE - The Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, on Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/File)
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch. Photos: Win McNamee and John Moore/Getty Images and Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images
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Overview

  • Eswatini’s correctional services said ten third-country nationals arrived Monday and will be held in secure facilities pending repatriation.
  • The kingdom had signaled it would take 11 this month after receiving five in July; one Jamaican has been returned and two more repatriations are expected soon.
  • A U.S.-based lawyer said at least nine Southeast Asian nationals were on the flight, which he tracked through Puerto Rico, Senegal and Angola before landing in Eswatini.
  • Documents and reporting show U.S. payments to partner states, including $5.1 million to Eswatini for up to 160 deportees and $7.5 million to Rwanda for 250.
  • Lawyers and NGOs report detainees held without charge and denied legal access, with active court challenges in Eswatini and in U.S. cases contesting third-country removals.