Deportee Released from Eswatini Prison, Returns to Cambodia

0:00On March 26, a Cambodian man deported to Eswatini by the United States after serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder has been released. From prison, his lawyer says authorities freed Fiefram on Wednesday, and by Thursday he was on track to return to Cambodia. This marks the second such release in Eswatini, following a Jamaican man sent home last September. The small African nation has accepted at least 19 third country deportees from the U.S. part of a roughly $5 million agreement. Rights groups have slammed the policy, pointing out that some deportees end up jailed without charges or shift back to countries they fled due to. Persecution. Meanwhile, U.S. officials described these individuals as too dangerous for their home nations to accept. Eswatini officials deny that claim and say they plan to repatriate everyone sent there. Earlier this month, four more deportees arrived, and with the deal still in place, more releases could follow soon.