Eswatini: Justice grants right to defense to migrants deported from the United States

A court in Eswatini has ruled that migrants deported by the United States and detained in the African kingdom have the right to access a lawyer, in a decision that marks a setback for the local government.

The ruling concerns the first five migrants transferred under this deportation policy. The judges rejected the authorities' argument that the detainees had not explicitly requested legal representation.

Human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, who is seeking to defend these migrants, had been denied all access to his clients until now. The court ruled that no harm justified this ban.

"If they do not wish to see the defendant, they can tell him to his face," the judges said, emphasizing the importance of the right to a defense.

This case is part of a broader legal challenge to a multi-million dollar deportation agreement between Washington and Mbabane, aimed at transferring migrants to this southern African country.

In total, at least 19 people from different continents — Africa, Asia and the Americas — have been sent to Eswatini as part of the president's administration's migration policy Donald Trump.

So far, only two of them have been released, with the others remaining incarcerated in conditions criticized by human rights advocates.

The court decision currently only applies to the first five arrivals, but it could set a precedent for other pending cases.

This case highlights the legal and ethical issues related to policies of outsourcing deportations, as well as the tensions between national sovereignty and respect for fundamental rights.