JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Two migrants deported from the United States arrived in Eswatini, authorities in the southern African country said, under an agreement between the two countries that has drawn criticism from rights groups.
The two migrants are from Latin America, according to a statement government late Thursday which described the individuals as “third-party nationals” and said they arrived following consultations and agreements between the U.S. and Eswatini.
The pair are the fifth batch of deportees to be shipped from the U.S. to the landlocked African kingdom of Eswatini since the first group arrived in July 2025.
Some earlier deportees have since been repatriated. A Jamaican man was repatriated to his home country in September, while a Cambodian man was released in March for repatriation after spending five months detained in a maximum-security prison.
Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to two dozen countries that aren’t their own, as it pushes ahead with its immigration crackdown, advocates say.
Immigration lawyers say the practice is being used as a legal loophole to indirectly return some asylum seekers to countries they fled.
An estimated 11 of those agreements are with African countries, including Rwanda, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic.
The Trump administration’s choice of African countries to strike deportation deals with and pay money to is also under scrutiny because many of the countries, including Eswatini, South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, have notoriously repressive governments and poor human rights records.
Eswatini’s King Mswati III has long been accused of clamping down on pro-democracy movements, sometimes violently.
Liberia has become a focal point in the Trump administration’s expanding third-country deportation plan after agreeing to take up to 1,200 migrants — one of the largest numbers to date — and welcoming its first group this month.
In July this year, Jamaica’s government said two of its three citizens deported to the tiny kingdom have formally declined offers to be repatriated to the Caribbean nation.
The Eswatini government did not identify the two most recent deportees, disclose their nationalities, or say how long they would remain in the country.
Pro-democracy and civil rights groups have been strongly fighting Eswatini’s secret deal to accept third-country deportees from the U.S. through cross-border protests, lawsuits, and public opposition.
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
FILE - Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
The United Kingdom warned against any attempt by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center on Friday, after reports that Israel was considering expelling U.K. officials.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed three people from the same family as the county continues its attacks despite a monthlong ceasefire brokered by the United States.
Here’s a look at the latest developments Friday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
The U.K. government said on Thursday that it remains committed to implementing the 20-point Gaza peace plan and any move to remove its officials would “undermine shared efforts."
The comments came in response to a Financial Times report that Israel is considering expelling officials from Britain, and potentially other European nations, from the monitoring center. The U.K. remains committed to “playing our part in improving the situation on the ground,” the British government told The Associated Press.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Israel’s Foreign Ministry was removing two Dutch diplomats from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the decision was in response to “a series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Dutch government,” including next month's implementation of a ban on the trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other areas.
Two brothers and another relative were killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on the family’s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Israel's military said it was not aware of a strike in Khan Younis.
The three deaths were the latest among Palestinians in Gaza since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,303 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
A pro-government demonstrator chants slogan during a gathering in a square in Tehran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Children play at a beach as commercial vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (Amir Biazar/ISNA via AP)
Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
