By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African government through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has raised security concerns over the Kingdom of Eswatini’s decision to house dangerous immigrant criminals.
The men, from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Cuba, were flown to the small southern African country, an absolute monarchy, last week as the US stepped up deportations to “third countries” after the supreme court cleared them last month.
Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is landlocked by South Africa and Mozambique and has a population of about 1.2 million. It is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986.
The government estimated the five men would be held for about 12 months, a spokesperson, Thabile Mdluli, said, adding: “It could be slightly less or slightly more.”
She said Eswatini was ready to receive more deportees, depending on the availability of facilities and negotiations with the US.
In a statement Dirco said,” On behalf of Government of the Republic of South Africa, noted the aforementioned statement wherein Eswatini and the USA indicated that they would collaborate with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin. DIRCO also noted that the countries of origin of these deportees are unlikely to receive them.”
“Whilst respecting the sovereign decision of the Government of Eswatini, the Government of the Republic of South Africa is deeply concerned about the profile of these individuals and the potential adverse impact on South Africa’s national security and immigration policy, given the geographical proximity between the two sisterly countries.”
The opposition parties has also viewed a US deportation flight carrying immigrants from different countries awith “profound concern and strong condemnation”.
They called on the Eswatini government to immediately disclose the details of any agreement with the US regarding the deportees, including the terms, conditions and any benefits received.