Lao Man Deported By Trump To Eswatini Freed After 14 Months In Maximum-Security Prison

Laotian citizen Phone Chomsavanh has been released from a maximum-security prison in Eswatini after spending more than 14 months there following his deportation from the United States under Donald Trump’s controversial third-country deportation programme. His lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, said Chomsavanh has left Eswatini and reached Johannesburg, from where he is travelling to Laos.

Chomsavanh was among five men deported to Eswatini on July 16, 2025, despite having no connection to the African kingdom. The others were nationals of Cuba, Yemen, Vietnam and Jamaica. All had criminal convictions in the US and had completed their sentences before being transferred to the Matsapha Correctional Complex near Mbabane.

Chomsavanh, who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents fled Laos, moved to the US with his family when he was seven. He had never lived in Laos as an adult. According to recent reporting, he was shackled and put on a deportation flight without being told its destination. He said he initially believed he was being sent to Laos but discovered shortly before landing that the plane was headed to Eswatini.

Nguyen said his client was given no meaningful notice, hearing or opportunity to challenge his transfer. “He had already served his time,” the lawyer said, arguing that Chomsavanh was effectively left in prison in a country where he had never been accused of a crime.

The Eswatini arrangement has since expanded. At least 30 people had reportedly been transferred there by July 2026, including 25 who arrived after the original five. Jamaican national Orville Etoria, one of the first five, was repatriated to Jamaica in September 2025 after more than two months in detention.

Eswatini received $5.1 million from the US under the arrangement. Rights groups have criticised the programme over secrecy, detention and due-process concerns. Human Rights First and Refugees International say roughly 500 migrants have been sent to African countries other than their home nations, while the broader US programme has involved more than 25,000 third-country removals worldwide.

The policy is also facing a major legal challenge. A US appeals court had blocked removals without giving migrants an opportunity to raise fears of persecution or torture. But on September 29, the US Supreme Court temporarily allowed the Trump administration to resume third-country deportations while it considers the case, with arguments scheduled for December.