Amnesty International has condemned the deportation of 11 people from the United States to Eswatini, describing the transfers as unlawful and accusing the Trump administration of implementing “cruel and racist” anti-immigrant policies.

The group arrived in the southern African kingdom on Wednesday, marking the fourth batch of deportees sent to the country since July last year under a $5 million agreement with Washington.

Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for east and southern Africa, called on Eswatini authorities to stop facilitating the transfers.

“The Eswatini authorities must stop facilitating these unlawful transfers,” Mwangovya said in a statement released on Friday.

The latest arrivals bring the total number of US deportees currently held in Eswatini to 29. According to local sources, 10 of the newest group are from African nations, while one is from South America.

The deportations form part of a third-country deportation programme in which several African nations have agreed to accept migrants from the United States.

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Eswatini has stated it intends to return the deportees to their countries of origin. A Jamaican and Cambodian national who arrived in earlier groups have already been repatriated.

Amnesty International demanded that the United States “immediately end this unlawful policy and dismantle the mass detention and deportation machine”.

The southern African nation, which is Africa’s last absolute monarchy, confirmed last year it had received around $5.1 million from the United States to accept 160 deportees.

Rwanda has reportedly sealed a similar $7.5 million aid deal to accept 250 people, according to Human Rights Watch.

Other deportees have been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, whilst some have been dropped off in war-torn South Sudan.

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