by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE United States’ recent expulsions of third-country nationals to some African countries have exposed several hundred people to a risk of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and refoulement.
This is according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) amid the expulsions to Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan.
HRW said the opaque deals that facilitate these transfers, at least some of which include US financial assistance, are part of a US policy approach that violates international human rights law and is designed to instrumentalise human suffering as a deterrent to migration.
“These agreements make African governments partners in the Trump administration’s horrifying violations of immigrants’ human rights,” said Allan Ngari, Africa advocacy director at HRW.
“The African governments implementing these deals risk violating international law, including the prohibitions against refoulement and arbitrary detention.”
In August 2025, a Rwandan government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, reportedly said that the country had agreed to accept up to 250 deportees, a much larger number than has been reported for Eswatini or South Sudan, under an agreement, which HRW has seen, that includes roughly $7,5 million in US financial support.
HRW says it has viewed the written agreement between the US and Eswatini, under which the US will provide $5,1 million to “build [Eswatini] border and migration management capacity” and Eswatini will accept up to 160 deportees from the US.
So far, Eswatini has received at least five people from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen and is reportedly holding them in the Matsapha Correctional Complex under harsh conditions.
An Eswatini official reportedly told HRW that the country is preparing to receive another 150 people. Lawyers and civil society groups have challenged the legality of detaining these people.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is quoted confirming it was holding seven foreign nationals deported from the US in July, while an eighth person, a South Sudanese national, was released to his family.
On September 6, the authorities formally announced the repatriation of one Mexican national to Mexico but did not clarify where the remaining six men are being held and under what conditions, nor did it explain the legal basis for holding them.
Ghanaian president, John Mahama, is quoted confirming that his government has agreed to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US.
– CAJ News