WASHINGTON: The United States has deported five migrants from Asian and Caribbean nations to Eswatini, a small African kingdom, following their convictions for violent crimes.
The individuals, originally from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen, were removed after their home countries refused their repatriation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the deportees were involved in severe offenses, including child rape and murder.
“These criminal illegal aliens are so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back,“ the DHS posted on social media platform X.
This move aligns with the Trump administration’s policy of third-country deportations, where migrants are sent to nations other than their own if their home countries deny re-entry.
The US Supreme Court recently upheld this approach, allowing the resumption of such deportations.
Earlier this month, eight other migrants were deported to South Sudan, another nation with a history of conflict.
Those individuals, from Cuba, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico, and South Sudan, were also convicted of violent crimes.
Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, has been under King Mswati III’s rule since 1986.
The country, formerly known as Swaziland, has faced criticism over human rights concerns and the king’s extravagant lifestyle.
President Donald Trump has intensified deportation efforts since returning to office, fulfilling his campaign promise to remove undocumented migrants with criminal backgrounds. – AFP
