BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
LOBAMBA – The Minister of Home Affairs, Princess Lindiwe, has defended Eswatini’s participation in the third-country nationals programme, describing the model as a better way of managing deportations despite the criticism it has attracted.
Princess Lindiwe was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Senator Pholile Shakantu, during the Senate debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ 2026 quarterly performance report.
Shakantu said the model was preferable because it involved cooperation between governments, with a sending state, a third-country host regarded as a safe country, and arrangements for the eventual movement of the deportees.
She said the arrangement ensured that the costs associated with hosting the deportees and facilitating their departure were not borne by the host government.
Using the United States deportees in Eswatini as an example, Shakantu said the costs of keeping them in the country and facilitating their departure were not being met by the Eswatini Government.
“So that model is better because countries can encourage each other that, if one country is facing an immigration problem, it can make arrangements with other countries to help address the challenge by deporting those nationals back to their countries of origin,” she stated.
Third-country deportation generally refers to the removal of a person to a country other than their country of nationality or origin. Under United States immigration law, deportation to a third country can be used where removal to the person’s designated country is considered impracticable, inadvisable or impossible.
Eswatini began receiving third-country nationals deported by the United States in 2025. The latest group, comprising 11 people, arrived in July 2026, making it the fourth group received under the arrangement.
Shakantu said the programme should not be viewed as creating a burden for host countries. She argued that simply ordering undocumented immigrants to leave without providing mechanisms for their safe departure could result in them moving into neighbouring countries, transferring the immigration challenge from one country to another.
She said the third-country nationals arrangement was an assisted programme under which the governments involved shared responsibility for ensuring that affected people could eventually return safely to their countries of origin.
The minister said countries should therefore cooperate when faced with immigration challenges rather than leaving individuals to find their own way out of a country after being ordered to leave.
Eswatini has maintained that the rights of third-country nationals temporarily hosted in the country are protected under national law and its international obligations.
#Eswatini #HomeAffairs #ThirdCountryNationals #Deportation #Immigration #Senate #PholileShakantu #PrincessLindiwe #ImmigrationPolicy #USDeportees #EswatiniNews #SADC #InternationalCooperation #BorderManagement #MigrationManagement
