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Trump finds Africa as a lifeline for his express migrant deportation program.

Trump finds Africa as a lifeline for his express migrant deportation program.

A call from a prison in Eswatini woke the Mosquera family in the early hours of Friday, August 1. It was Roberto Mosquera del Peral (Havana, 58), one of the five men—from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen— deported by the US government to this African country, formerly known as Swaziland, in mid-July . Jessica Canoto, his niece, heard Mosquera's voice on the other end of the phone. "He couldn't say much; he just let us know he was okay. Until then, we didn't know if he was alive or dead," Canoto told EL PAÍS by phone from Miami. The US government accuses her uncle of being "a dangerous alien criminal with a violent past ," according to an ICE spokesperson, and maintains that he was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, vehicle theft, flight to elude authorities, and reckless driving.

Mosquera, who arrived in the US at age 13 amid the great Mariel boatlift, was imprisoned twice, between 1989 and 1996 and between 2010 and 2012, according to a report from the Florida Department of Corrections. Mosquera was detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Miami on June 16. A month later, on July 14, he was deported "pursuant to a final administrative removal order," according to an ICE spokesperson, to Eswatini. This is a small country in southern Africa with just 1.2 million inhabitants and governed by an absolute monarchy , where various human rights violations occur, in fact, documented by the US State Department in its annual reports. The Eswatini report mentions cases of arbitrary arrests and politically motivated killings, torture and cruel treatment by security forces, and overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions in prisons.

At the Mosquera family home in Miami, they don't understand why Roberto has been deported to a third country they knew practically nothing about. In Eswatini, more than 13,000 kilometers away, opposition political parties like PÙDEMO and organizations like the Southern Africa Litigation Center and the Swaziland Rural Women Assembly also don't understand why five foreigners have arrived in their prisons amid a secret agreement between the Trump administration and local authorities. In neighboring South Africa, the government informed the Kingdom of Eswatini last Wednesday that it fears these and future deportations could jeopardize its national security .

The US does not claim that these are safe third countries, but simply uses them as deportation locations.

Bill Frelick, director of the Refugee Rights Program at Human Rights Watch

Mosquera's case is no exception. Donald Trump has found a lifeline in Africa to continue his policy of deporting migrants through secret agreements and in remote territories, far from the scrutiny of the press and human rights defenders. In May, he deported eight men from Cuba, Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan to South Sudan. In July, it was the turn of the five expelled to Eswatini. Last Tuesday, Rwanda confirmed it had reached an agreement with the US to receive up to 250 deported migrants .

The plan in Africa is far from over. Media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal report that Trump has proposed deportation agreements with other countries, including Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal. CBS has also mentioned negotiations with Angola and Equatorial Guinea. Nigeria refused to accept deportees in July.

United Nations experts have questioned the endorsement by the US Supreme Court of express deportations to third countries, without "additional procedures" and with only a few hours' notice. Bill Frelick, director of the Refugee Rights Program at Human Rights Watch (HRW), argues in an interview with EL PAÍS that due process must be followed in deportations, providing the opportunity to present complaints against deportation orders. The principle of protection must also be guaranteed, according to which a person should not be returned to a country where there is a risk of persecution. "When deportations are made to third countries, the situation is much more complicated," Frelick emphasizes, adding that, in this case, a safe destination country must be assessed and what constitutes a safe country must be determined. "In the case of Eswatini and South Sudan, the US is not claiming at all that these are safe third countries, but is simply using them as deportation destinations," he says in a video call from Washington. This is a challenge because, legally, these African countries are now responsible for these people.

Against secrecy in Eswatini

“In their search [for deportation destinations] they discovered a country, one I doubt Trump had ever known before, that has a monarch who would do anything for money.” This is how Mlungisi Makhanya , president of PUDEMO, Eswatini's main opposition party, sums up this case. Makhanya, whose political party has been persecuted by the monarchy, knows firsthand the state of human rights and prisons in his country. According to the platform World Prison Brief , the occupancy rate of Eswatini's penal system exceeds 171%. Makhanya also describes situations such as lack of food, a low budget for prison services, and weak security measures. “There have been escapes from our prisons. Why are they bringing these people, who they say are very dangerous, knowing that our prison security system is very weak?” Makhanya asks in a video call with EL PAÍS.

PUDEMO, its president explains, is preparing a lawsuit against the state for having secretly negotiated with the US and "at the expense of the deportees." "Our courts are not independent, but we believe that, despite this, we have a duty to challenge the imprisonment of these five people. Eswatini is being used to dehumanize our brothers and sisters in the Global South," Makhanya asserts. "The initial procedure will allow our legal team to contact these people to obtain their statements and information about what really happened," the political leader adds.

In their search [for deportation destinations] they discovered a country, which I doubt Trump knew about before, that has a monarch who would do anything for money.

Mlungisi Makhanya, President of PUDEMO

There is no new official information on the status of the five deportees. In July, the Eswatini government merely confirmed that they were "held in isolated prisons where other similar offenders are held." They also assured that they will collaborate with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to return the five to their countries of origin. However, the IOM, according to the HRW spokesperson, cannot intervene in deportation cases, only in cases of voluntary return.

Human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi went to the gates of the Matsapha high-security prison—where the five deportees are believed to be held—on July 25 and asked, on behalf of a U.S. law firm representing them, to verify their status. He was denied entry. “They’ve served their sentences,” Nhlabatsi told the Associated Press. “If a person has committed a crime and served their sentence, why are they still in prison?”

Melusi Simelane, manager of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre's Civil Rights Group, says they are advising lawyer Nhlabatsi on how he can enter the prison. On July 31, they sued the head of Eswatini's Department of Correctional Services and the country's attorney general to gain access. While waiting for that authorization, the organization is preparing another legal action to demand that Eswatini's Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, answer why he received the deportees and under what legal provisions. "We will ask a court to force the prime minister to explain what the agreement [with the US] was and to consult Parliament in the future," Simelane says. "This sets a very dangerous precedent in the country and in the region. What Trump is doing is saying is 'if you do me this favor, I won't impose tariffs on you.' We cannot allow our sovereignty to be undermined." Eswatini, South Sudan, and Rwanda have, as of August 7, imposed 10% tariffs, the lowest rate under this Trump policy.

HRW also has many questions. Frelick says the organization is preparing a letter to the governments of South Sudan and Eswatini to request more information and determine whether they will open an investigation. However, she acknowledges that conducting an on-site investigation is a greater challenge in certain African countries. “We have a very difficult relationship with Rwanda because we have been critical of their government,” Frelick says, as an example.

Kelly Stone , a consultant on justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, warns that the deportations to Africa are a continuation of Trump's security policy of expelling alleged criminals, which began in Central America. The aggravating factor is that the agreements have been closed amidst extreme secrecy: it is unknown what the receiving countries receive in return—El Salvador was known to receive $20,000, about €17,000, per prisoner per year —which prisons they will go to, or whether more detainees will be received. Furthermore, these are poor countries with little room for negotiation with the North American giant.

A seed of doubt was sown in a context in which people no longer trusted politicians.

Kelly Stone, Justice and Violence Prevention Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria

For economist Patrick Bond, professor of sociology at the University of Johannesburg and author of several books on resource exploitation in African countries, these deportations are simply part of Donald Trump's transactional politics and his agenda in Africa. "He wants a tough relationship where if you give something to Africa, it must do whatever it takes [in return]. It's a bribe. In the case of South Sudan, they need US military support. And Eswatini desperately needs legitimacy," he explains in a video call.

Stone also warns of a risk much deeper than security: the rise of public distrust of their governments in contexts of unstable conditions. "People are asking, why are you taking on a problem that the US should be handling? What have you promised them? What dirty deal are they plotting? A seed of doubt has been sown in a context where people no longer trust politicians."

EL PAÍS

EL PAÍS

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