Eswatini, a small monarchy in southern Africa, has recently been capturing headlines. The nation has taken in deported Americans from the US, leading to increased surveillance. Since 1986, King Mswati III has ruled the government of one of Africa’s last absolute monarchies. They’ve received more than $5 million from the US to help speed this process along. As a result, this important step creates further hope for improved human rights practices in the deeply conservative kingdom, Africa’s last absolute monarchy.
Previous domestic critiques of the US deportation program have been primarily led by civil rights organizations. This obscure program does so via clandestine compact agreements with no public input from at least five African countries including Eswatini. Consequently, at least 15 men deported from the US have landed in these countries. Nearly each of the July arrivals stepped off the chartered US military plane with an American sponsor waiting in July. A second round came soon after—early October.
This 62-year-old man from Jamaica was one of the deportees. He came back to his home country in September after completing a life sentence for murder in the US. According to a NPR Report, about half of these people have been found guilty of felonies such as child rape and homicide. In reality, Washington has labeled many of them as “depraved monsters.”
Eswatini’s finance minister Neal Rijkenberg acknowledged his government accepted a $5.1 million payment from the US to take these deportees. As of the end of September, approximately $20 million of the funds had been obligated to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). Rijkenberg noted that the government had no detailed information on the procedure for accepting the deportees. This oversight caused major issues with transparency and communication.
We asked because we were told that it was for the US deportees,” Rijkenberg explained. We appreciate that he reminded NDMA that it’s not allowed to spend money that hasn’t been duly appropriated.
As Eswatini navigates its role in this controversial deportation program, it continues to grapple with longstanding concerns regarding human rights violations under King Mswati III’s rule. The potential for the kingdom to receive these individuals could further damage its international reputation and its internal governance.