Eswatini Denies Secretly Sending US Deportees Into SA

By Southerton Business Times Reporter

Eswatini has denied allegations that it is secretly releasing migrants deported from the United States and allowing them to cross illegally into South Africa through informal border points. The allegations emerged after Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian national deported from the US to Eswatini in 2025, was released from detention and travelled through Johannesburg on his way to Laos.

Chomsavanh was released from the Matsapha Correctional Complex on Sunday, October 4, after spending more than 14 months in detention, according to his US-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen. The Associated Press also confirmed his release. He was among five immigrants transferred from the United States to Eswatini in July 2025 under the Trump administration's third-country deportation programme. Nguyen said Chomsavanh had been convicted of offences in the United States but had completed his sentence before being deported.

The lawyer said his client was informed only shortly before the military cargo plane landed in Eswatini that the southern African kingdom was his destination. “He had already served his time. Instead they put him on a plane without telling him where it was headed and left him in a prison in a country he had never heard of,” Nguyen said, according to the Associated Press. Chomsavanh was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents fled Laos and later moved to the United States with his family when he was seven.

His release triggered reports alleging that Eswatini was quietly releasing US deportees at night and allowing them to enter South Africa through unofficial crossing points. However, the Eswatini government has rejected the allegation. Acting Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said three third-country nationals had voluntarily left Eswatini in recent weeks after requesting to return to their countries of origin or travel elsewhere for resettlement.

The three were identified as nationals of Yemen, Belize and Laos. According to the government, the Lao national was Chomsavanh, who left Eswatini on October 4. South African authorities have also pushed back against the claim. South Africa's Border Management Authority said its land ports with Eswatini are secured and that access-control measures are in place at designated entry and exit points. The country's Department of International Relations and Cooperation has also distanced itself from the allegations.

South Africa had previously expressed concern about the US-Eswatini deportation arrangement, particularly because of the proximity of the two countries and the criminal histories of some of those transferred. In August 2025, Pretoria said it had raised the matter with Eswatini and noted that the countries of origin of some deportees might not accept them.

Eswatini began accepting third-country deportees from the United States in July 2025. Amnesty International reported in July 2026 that at least 30 people had been transferred to the kingdom under the arrangement, including the original five and subsequent groups.

The arrangement has attracted criticism from human-rights organisations over transparency, detention and the legal status of people sent to a country with which they have no previous connection. The Eswatini government has previously said the deportees are not prisoners and can move around the country under supervision. Three of them were also seen attending the 2026 Umhlanga Reed Dance ceremony.

The latest developments therefore confirm that some US deportees have left Eswatini, but there is no independent confirmation that they were secretly released into South Africa through informal border crossings.

Chomsavanh's journey through Johannesburg, meanwhile, has placed renewed attention on the still-secretive arrangements governing the movement and eventual resettlement of people deported by the United States to third countries.

Eswatini US deportees

Eswatini has denied secretly releasing US deportees into South Africa after Lao national Phone Chomsavanh left detention and travelled through Johannesburg.

URL slug:eswatini-us-deportees-south-africa-phone-chomsavanh

Excerpt:Eswatini has rejected allegations that US deportees are being secretly released into South Africa, following the release of Laotian national Phone Chomsavanh.

Image ALT text:Phone Chomsavanh and Eswatini US deportees controversy

Suggested caption:Phone Chomsavanh spent more than 14 months in detention in Eswatini after being deported from the United States.

Tags:Eswatini, Phone Chomsavanh, United States, Donald Trump, deportation, South Africa, immigration, third-country deportations, Southern Africa