The Kingdom of Eswatini has firmly rejected any attempt to position the small southern African nation as a dumping ground for unwanted migrants, following a controversial deportation of five non-African nationals by the United States.
The migrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba, were flown into Eswatini as part of what US authorities called a “third-country” deportation scheme, marking the first such transfer since a recent Supreme Court ruling allowed the practice to resume.
But within hours of international headlines suggesting Eswatini was now a host to individuals rejected by their own governments, the kingdom pushed back. “Eswatini is not, and will not be, a permanent home for foreign deportees who have no connection to our country,” said government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli in a statement on Wednesday.
She added that the government, in coordination with the United States and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is facilitating the deportees’ transit to their respective countries of origin.
However, IOM contradicted that claim, stating it had not been involved in the deportation from the US and had not been approached to support the migrants’ repatriation, raising further questions about transparency and coordination in the process.
A Sovereign Refusal in the Face of Global Power
Eswatini’s swift response has stirred discussion across Africa, where concerns over the continent’s perceived role as a last resort for global North migration policies continue to grow. While this specific case does not involve African migrants, the symbolism of a powerful country redirecting deportees to a small African state echoes a long-standing pattern: the weaponization of global inequality in immigration control.
“This is not just about five individuals, it is about the audacity of wealthy nations to impose their migration failures on others, especially in the Global South,” said a regional analyst based in Pretoria. “Eswatini is right to assert its sovereignty.”
The deportees had all served prison sentences in the United States for serious crimes. According to the Department of Homeland Security, their home countries had allegedly refused to receive them, prompting the US to reroute them to Eswatini, a country with no legal, geographical, or historical ties to the individuals involved.
African Countries Facing Pressure as ‘Transit Hosts’
This incident raises broader questions for African countries often placed in precarious diplomatic positions when dealing with powerful nations’ migration agendas. In recent years, similar concerns have been voiced over European and American attempts to establish “offshore” migrant processing centers in parts of North and West Africa.
For Eswatini, a landlocked monarchy of just over 1 million people, the situation reflects a much deeper issue: how smaller nations must defend their agency in the face of global power imbalances.
In the age of increasingly restrictive migration policies in the Global North, Africa is being tested not just on how it treats its own migrants and refugees, but on how it navigates complex geopolitical demands that risk trading sovereignty for diplomacy.
Eswatini’s rejection of the United States’ move may be small in numbers but it is powerful in principle.
