JOHANNESBURG: Eswatini received $5.1 million from the US government under a deal to accept third-country nationals deported by the Trump administration, its finance minister said on Tuesday.

Eswatini is among several African nations that agreed to receive third-country deportees as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Others include South Sudan, Ghana, and Rwanda.

Details of the agreements have not been disclosed, and Eswatini’s government is facing a lawsuit from human rights lawyers who claim the secretive deal was unconstitutional.

Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg confirmed the $5.1 million figure in a text message but declined to give further details, saying the transaction was handled by the prime minister and that he was unaware of it until afterwards.

The document said that the US would provide Eswatini with $5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity” and that in exchange, Eswatini would accept up to 160 third-country deportees.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2025