Eswatini Allegedly Releases US Deportees Into SA Through Informal Border Crossings, Citizens Fume

Published 7 Oct 2026 at 3:37 PM

by Byron Pillay

3 min read

Eswatini reportedly released United States deportees at night through informal border crossings into South Africa
Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian man held for over 14 months in an Eswatini maximum-security prison, was among those released
South Africans raised concerns about the country being used as a transit route for foreign nationals with serious criminal convictions in the US

PAY ATTENTION: Mark Briefly News as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!

Phone Chomsavanh was held at the Matsapha Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison located in Eswatini — Phone Chomsavanh, who was deported from the US, was held at the Matsapha Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison located in Eswatini. Image: Mario Tama/ @WashTimes (X)
Source: Getty Images

Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.

SOUTH AFRICA — Eswatini has allegedly been quietly releasing foreign nationals deported to the country into South Africa via informal border crossings under the cover of night.

The claim was published by Swaziland News on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. The report claimed that men, transferred to Eswatini under a United States third-country deportation programme, were transferred into South Africa.

Laotian man released after 14 months

Phone Chomsavanh, a Laotian national who was among five immigrants transported to Eswatini on a US military cargo plane in July 2025, has reportedly headed back home through South Africa.

PAY ATTENTION: You can now search for all your favourite news and topics on Briefly News.

Chomsavanh spent more than 14 months in a maximum-security prison before being released on a Sunday in October 2026. His US-based lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, announced the release, noting that Chomsavanh subsequently travelled through Johannesburg, South Africa, en route to Laos.

The US-Eswatini deportation agreement

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 14 May 2025, the US agreed to pay Eswatini $5.1 million — roughly R100 million — to temporarily host up to 160 third-country nationals with final deportation orders who could not be repatriated directly to their countries of origin.

The funds were officially designated to assist Eswatini in building its border and migration management capacity. Many of those transferred under the programme reportedly held prior criminal convictions in the United States, including for serious and violent offences.

How did South Africans react?

The reports of deportees entering South Africa through informal crossings have drawn sharp criticism from South Africans online.

@Common_man18 wrote:

"Swaziland is a security risk to South Africa."

@Buntu_Bokweni questioned:

"South Africa, where is our crime intelligence? 😳"

@KhozaLeroi stated:

"I mean, we all knew what would happen when they took in those prisoners."

@yeahthatsharry added:

"Obviously it was gonna happen. But the problem is our leadership not having a strong stance against the Eswatini leadership on this."

@Uyskaas remarked:

"This was expected. SA is a dumping ground."

@ms_tourist wrote:

"I knew this was going to happen."

Eswatini accepts 11 more violent criminals from the US

Briefly News reported that the Kingdom of Eswatini announced that it would accept more convicted criminals from the US in October 2025.

The acting spokesperson for the government stated that the immigrants pose no security threat to the nation or neighbouring countries.