Eswatini has publicly confirmed that it received $5.1 million from the United States under a secretive agreement to accept “third-country” nationals deported by the Trump administration. According to Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg, the funds were channelled into the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) though he added the money has yet to be fully appropriated.
Under the deal, Eswatini agreed to take in as many as 160 deportees, and so far 15 men have already been flown in some from Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, Yemen and the Philippines and are being held at the high-security Matsapha Correctional Centre. The arrangement has sparked strong backlash from human rights groups and lawyers, who argue the deal was made without transparency and violates Eswatini’s constitution.