Eswatini’s King Mswati III swiftly agreed to host US-deported third-country migrants in a secretive deal worth $5.1 million, despite mounting legal challenges over its constitutionality.
Eswatini was among the first African nations to volunteer to host migrants deported by the United States, with King Mswati III immediately approving the arrangement after Prime Minister Russell Dlamini briefed him following talks with US embassy officials.
“The king embraced the deal as Eswatini’s contribution to world order,” royal spokesman Percy Simelane told Reuters.
Under the deal, Eswatini agreed to host up to 160 deportees from countries including Cuba, Jamaica, Cambodia and Laos in exchange for $5.1 million. Nineteen migrants have so far been detained south of the capital Mbabane.
Lawyers challenging the accord argue it violates Eswatini’s constitution by bypassing parliament and detaining migrants without charge. Defence lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said, “The government of Swaziland have put themselves in a mess that they don’t know how to take themselves out of.”
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