The Deputy President of Eswatini’s opposition People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Wandile Dludlu, has accused the government of giving luxury privileges to foreign convicts deported from the United States (US) under a controversial third-country resettlement policy.
The Trump administration recently deported 11 individuals to Eswatini, bringing the total number of arrivals to 29. The transfers are part of a $5.1 million bilateral agreement between Washington and Mbabane. Strikingly, the deportees, who hail from nations including Vietnam, Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, and Yemen, have no ancestral, cultural, or familial ties to Eswatini.
Human rights lawyers have legally challenged the bilateral deal, arguing that the individuals are effectively being subjected to unlawful double jeopardy and arbitrary detention, given that they have already fully served their prison sentences for crimes committed in the US.
Dludlu revealed that despite being housed at the high-security Matsapha Maximum Prison, the foreign nationals are living under a completely different set of rules compared to local inmates.
–ChannelAfrica–
