A judicial panel in Eswatini has determined that five migrants sent to the African kingdom under Trump administration deportation policies are entitled to legal counsel, following their transfer from American custody to a Swazi detention facility last July without attorney access.
The three-judge panel dismissed government claims that the detained individuals had not explicitly asked for representation from human rights attorney Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, who has been attempting to advocate for the migrants while being prevented from meeting with them.
“There can be no real harm in granting the Respondent access to the detainees,” the judicial panel stated in their ruling, which Reuters obtained and reviewed.
“If they do not wish to see the Respondent (they can) tell this to the Respondent to his face,” the judges added.
These five individuals are part of a larger group of at least 19 third-country nationals from Africa, Asia, and the Americas who were sent to Eswatini under the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Similar deportation arrangements have been established with other nations as well.
While this ruling specifically covers the initial five deportees who were the subject of the original legal challenge, it may establish a legal framework for the remaining detainees. Under the absolute rule of King Mswati III, Eswatini has freed only two individuals from custody – a Jamaican national in the previous year and a Cambodian citizen last month.
Legal representatives in both Eswatini and the United States have questioned the validity of the $5.1 million agreement between the two nations, arguing that it results in deportees being imprisoned in the southern African country even after completing criminal sentences in America.
Last month, the nation’s high court dismissed a separate legal challenge filed by a local human rights attorney targeting the deportation agreement itself, though that decision is currently under appeal.
