Responding to reports that 11 people removed by the United States arrived in Eswatini on July 8, in what appears to be the fourth known transfer operation under the U.S.-Eswatini third-country removal arrangement, Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:
“For almost a year, Amnesty International has documented the serious human rights consequences of these transfers, including arbitrary detention, restrictions on access to lawyers, denial of due process and the risk of onward refoulement.
“States cannot outsource their human rights obligations. International law requires that everyone has the opportunity to challenge a transfer before it takes place. It also prohibits transferring people to countries where they face a real risk of serious human rights violations or onward refoulement. These removals, part and parcel of the Trump administration’s cruel and racist anti-immigrant policies, tear families apart and traumatize both individuals and communities.
“It is especially alarming that several people transferred under this arrangement had reportedly been granted protection under the Convention against Torture by the United States. This is consistent with a broader pattern documented by Amnesty International that in many cases persons removed to third countries in Africa had been granted protection by the U.S., including from torture. Protection against torture cannot be circumvented through third-country removal arrangements. The United States cannot “country shop” to be able to implement its racist mass deportation against people who have already been granted protection in the United States.
“The Eswatini authorities must stop facilitating these unlawful transfers. They must immediately disclose the identities and whereabouts of those transferred to their lawyers, families where appropriate, and independent monitors. They must also disclose the legal basis for any deprivation of liberty and ensure prompt and confidential access to lawyers, interpreters, medical care, and consular assistance.
“The United States must immediately end this unlawful policy and dismantle the mass detention and deportation machine. It must immediately return the people who were unlawfully transferred back to their homes, families, and communities in the United States. All those arbitrarily detained under the U.S.-Eswatini arrangement must be released immediately and provided with effective remedies including access to a fair and efficient asylum process.”
Background
The reported arrival of 11 more people on July 8, 2026, if confirmed as a new cohort, marks the fourth known transfer operation and bring the total number transferred to Eswatini to 30.
Eswatini is not an isolated case: Amnesty International has raised concerns that at least thirteen African states have received or agreed to receive third-country nationals from the United States under similar externalization arrangements.
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