CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sept 19 – Amnesty International has issued an urgent appeal to the authorities in Eswatini regarding the detention of five men deported from the United States who have been confined for two months without any formal charges. The men, originating from Jamaica, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen, were transferred to the southern African kingdom in mid-July under the U.S. third-country deportation program that began during the Trump administration.
Lawyers say the men are currently being held at Matsapha Correctional Centre, Eswatini’s maximum-security prison. Officials in the country, however, have declined to confirm their location, citing security reasons. Amnesty has demanded clarity, insisting that authorities must disclose where the detainees are held, grant them confidential access to legal counsel, and justify the grounds for their detention.
“The Eswatini government must reveal the men’s whereabouts, allow them regular contact with their lawyers, and provide a legal explanation for holding them without charges,” Amnesty declared.
In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that all five individuals had been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, including murder and sexual offenses involving minors. Officials said the men were living illegally in the country and had outstanding deportation orders. Defense attorneys counter that the men had already completed their sentences before being removed from the U.S., stressing that holding them again in Eswatini without charges amounts to unlawful detention.
Three separate U.S.-based legal teams are representing the detainees. They argue their clients are being subjected to indefinite imprisonment in a nation where they have no ties and no family connections, raising deeper concerns about the deportation program itself.
The broader policy has drawn international criticism, as the U.S. has deported individuals to at least four African nations — Eswatini, Rwanda, Ghana, and South Sudan — since July. A separate arrangement with Uganda is in place, though no transfers there have been confirmed. Human rights organizations argue that such deportations place migrants in unfamiliar environments where due process is unlikely to be respected.
Similar disputes have surfaced in Ghana, where eleven deportees filed lawsuits earlier this month, claiming they were held illegally at a military installation. Ghanaian authorities insisted that fourteen deportees had been returned to their home countries, but attorneys for the group argued that most remained in custody under harsh conditions. Homeland Security defended the deportations, noting that many of those sent to Ghana had criminal records, repeating the stance that the program aims to protect American communities.
In Eswatini, the situation surrounding the five men remains opaque. When they first arrived, authorities said they were in transit and would eventually be repatriated to their countries of origin. Since then, however, there has been no further explanation, and government spokespeople have declined to comment. A legal case challenging the men’s lack of access to attorneys has been postponed several times. In addition, local advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally detaining the five, with a hearing scheduled for next week.
Eswatini, ruled by King Mswati III, is one of the last absolute monarchies in the world. Political parties are largely banned, and dissent is often suppressed. This history of rights violations has amplified fears over how the five deportees are being treated.
The issue is not isolated. Both South Sudan and Rwanda, which also received deportees under the U.S. program, have refused to reveal where those individuals are being housed. In one instance earlier this month, South Sudan quietly repatriated a Mexican national who had been detained there for two months without charges.
Amnesty International has emphasized that these cases highlight the dangers of deporting individuals to countries with poor human rights records. By outsourcing deportations to nations where rule of law is weak, the organization argues, the United States risks subjecting migrants to indefinite detention and further abuses.
For the detainees in Eswatini, the pressing concern is the uncertainty they face. Separated from their families and held without legal grounds, they remain in limbo as courts drag out proceedings. Human rights groups insist that unless swift action is taken, the men’s prolonged detention will deepen questions about the fairness and legality of the deportation system itself.
The controversies unfolding in Eswatini and Ghana underline the growing criticism of the U.S. policy. While Washington defends the approach as a way of removing individuals with criminal records, advocates argue it undermines international justice by abandoning deportees in environments where they lack basic protections.