The men, who had been released after serving criminal sentences, are from Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Jamaica and Yemen
Lawyers for five men deported by the US to Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, said they are being denied proper access to their clients, who they said are being imprisoned illegally.
The men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen and Cuba have criminal convictions, but had all served their sentences and been released in the US, their lawyers said. The US deported them to the small southern African country without warning in July, claiming they were “depraved monsters”.
The US has sent migrants to several third countries, as Donald Trump’s administration ramps up deportations. Eight men were sent to South Sudan in July, Rwanda accepted seven migrants last week and Uganda has agreed to take in asylum seekers. The US also deported 252 Venezuelans, first sending them to a notorious prison in El Salvador for four months.
The lawyers said they have been unable to have private conversations with their clients, who are allowed one short video call a week in the presence of prison staff. A local lawyer representing the five men has been prevented from visiting them in the maximum security Matsapha correctional centre.
