The Rulers of Eswatini Are Donald Trump’s Eager Accomplices
The Trump administration has begun deporting immigrants to Eswatini, one of Africa’s smallest countries and its only absolute monarchy. The Eswatini king and his entourage are natural partners for Donald Trump in this shameful, dehumanizing project.
Since taking power, Eswatini king Mswati III and a small circle of close relatives and cronies have gradually transformed a system of royal oligarchy into a full-blown dictatorship. (Richard A. Brooks / AFP via Getty Images)
On July 16, the US Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, announced that a third-country deportation flight had landed in Eswatini, a small kingdom in southern Africa.
The flight contained five men, allegedly from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen, who she labeled as “barbaric” and “depraved monsters.” McLaughlin posted their photos and an unverified list of convictions and sentences.
On the same day, Eswatini’s government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli reassured the public that the deportees were safely detained in isolated prison units while they awaited repatriation. A few days later, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini added that the government was open to receiving more deportees.
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