South Africans should be concerned and unsettled by the US's decision to deport dangerous criminals to neighbouring Eswatini as they may find their way into the country due to the porous borders.
This is according to experts who reacted to the recent deportation of five men to Eswatini, whom the US described as "barbaric" due to their criminal history which includes child rape, murder, assault GBH and robbery in America.
According to US authorities, the men – from Laos, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam and Yemen – were rejected by their own countries hence they were deported to Eswatini.
Speaking to the Sowetan, Prof Kedibone Phage from the Faculty of Governance at North West University said SA is in trouble as these dangerous immigrants may find their way into the country.
"It is a horror story, and it also says that for Africa to receive these kinds of people, it means we are a dumping ground ... this tells you that it is a well-coordinated move by the US to address their migrant questions.
"We have to be worried as South Africans ... because they are used to a lifestyle that might not be catered in Eswatini but mostly in SA. We shouldn't be surprised when they are traced in SA, our system is porous and this should be a concern that we are not hearing from government," Phage said.
On Wednesday, the department of homeland security in the US took to X and said: "Today, DHS (department of homeland security) conducted a third country deportation flight to Eswatini. These criminal illegal aliens are so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.
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"We are removing these convicted criminals from our soil so they can never hurt another American victim."
Phage said not only SA should be concerned but countries such as Botswana too.
"We need to get deeper into the situation and ask why this is happening, where the AU is to defend the continent, and why are we bullied in this nature.," he said
Editor of the Times of Eswatini, Zweli Dlamini, said the people of Eswatini are concerned about the developments although they were told that this is a temporary move.
"People on the ground are fearing for their lives, and civil organisations are criticising these decisions. We learnt about this on Wednesday morning. The government said the immigrants will be deported back to their respective countries after a few days," he said.
Dlamini said that he does not believe that the immigrants will be deported anytime soon.
Eswatini acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said in a statement that the five men are on transit and will be repatriated to their respective countries.
"The nation is assured that these inmates pose no threat to the country or its citizens. This exercise is the result of months of robust high-level engagements among the US government and the Kingdom of Eswatini. The two governments will collaborate with the International Organisation for Migration to facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin," Mdluli said.
Immigration expert Prof Loren Landau of Wits University shared the same sentiments as Phage that SA should be concerned.
"On moral and practical grounds, SA should be unsettled by this move.
"It is a further effort to make Africa a source of raw materials, cheap labour, and ‘waste processing’ for the US. While it may have little effect on SA in the short term, it also further allies Eswatini with the increasingly authoritarian US president. This will have implications for democracy, human rights, and the region’s solidarity," he said.
Sowetan approached the department of international relations and cooperation to inquire if SA was concerned about the possibility of some of these individuals entering the country.
"Our state authorities such as the Border Management Authority have embarked on significant reforms to safeguard our borders and citizens," said spokesperson Chrispin Phiri.
On Thursday, the Swaziland Solidarity Network released a statement condemning the US decision to "dump" the five men in their country.
"According to the US department of homeland security, these are convicted murderers, rapists and gang members and they must be removed so that 'they can never hurt another American victim'. By implication, this means they must now hurt Swazis.
"This is a deliberate act of collusion by two corrupt governments to dump America's most violent criminals in one of the world’s poorest nations," said spokesperson Mfanafuthi Tsela.
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