Eswatini repatriates Jamaican man deported by US after two months in detention

Eswatini has confirmed that a Jamaican man controversially deported by the United States and transferred to the southern African kingdom has now been repatriated to his homeland.

The man, identified by Eswatini authorities as Orville Isaac Etoria, was among five foreign nationals deported from the US in July under President Donald Trump’s intensified crackdown on illegal immigration.

In a statement issued on Monday, Eswatini’s government said Etoria was flown to Jamaica on Sunday, “where he was warmly welcomed by members of his family.” Officials stressed that his return was voluntary.

The four others — from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen — remain in detention in Mbabane as diplomatic efforts continue to arrange their return.

The US Department of Homeland Security had previously described the five as convicted criminals “so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back.” According to US records, Etoria had been convicted of murder but had already completed a 25-year sentence before being deported.

Eswatini, however, disputed Washington’s claim that the men were unwanted by their governments, saying some of the countries had reached out immediately to clarify they had not refused their nationals.

Rights groups, including New York’s Legal Aid Society, criticised Etoria’s transfer, arguing he was held “without due process” in Eswatini after serving his sentence in the US.

Trump’s administration has defended the policy of removing immigrants to “third countries” — including South Sudan, Ghana and now Eswatini — as part of broader efforts to deter illegal migration. Critics say the strategy is designed to intimidate migrants into leaving the US voluntarily to avoid being exiled to distant nations with which they have no ties.