Jamaican man deported to Eswatini by the US, now repatriated

Orville Etoria has been repatriated to his home country of Jamaica after spending over two months imprisoned in Eswatini, as reported by the Associated Press on September 23rd.

Etoria’s lawyers said he was one of five migrants deported to Eswatini despite Jamaica being willing to accept his return. According to them, he was held in a maximum-security facility and during the time he was detained, he was not given any details of his charges, nor was he given access to legal advice.

In a statement, Etoria’s lawyers explained, “a grave injustice that underscores the dangers of the U.S. government’s continued third-country deportations.”

Etoria’s lawyers claimed that the US transferred him to Eswatini instead under the existing third-country deportation framework. The policy, introduced under the Trump administration, allows US authorities to deport migrants to third countries if repatriation to their home nations is delayed or refused. Countries including Uganda, Rwanda, and Libya have been used as destinations under the scheme, which critics argue exposes deportees to arbitrary detention, abuse, and denial of due process.

Although Etoria has now been returned to Jamaica, his ordeal has renewed concern over the opaque nature of agreements underpinning the program. Legal experts argue the lack of transparency makes it difficult to monitor whether deportees’ rights are respected, while civil society groups have questioned whether partner countries have the capacity to process and house deportees safely.

Immigration has become a defining issue of US domestic politics, and the third-country deportation framework reflects the Trump administration’s determination to limit irregular migration by any means available.

International rights organisation Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the program, stating that it “violates international human rights law and is designed to instrumentalise human suffering as a deterrent to migration.”