Eswatini, a small landlocked country in southern Africa, welcomed 10 new people on Monday who were deported by the United States under the US program for transferring migrants to third countries, according to an official statement.

Deporting people to third countries – often where they have never lived – has been one of President Trump's signature measures since returning to the White House in January, including sending hundreds of people to a prison in El Salvador.

In Africa, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan have accepted people deported by the United States in recent months.

The prison services of Eswatini, the last absolute monarchy in Africa regularly denounced for its human rights violations, announced in a press release "the arrival of 10" people and their detention, without specifying their identity or nationality.

"The nationals who arrived today (October 6) are in good health and are following admission processes," said the Eswatini Prison Service, which has

"The government," the statement added, "continues to collaborate with relevant local and international stakeholders to facilitate their orderly repatriation."

A first group of five migrants was sent from the United States to Eswatini in mid-July. One of them returned to his home country, Jamaica, in September.

The first five people deported to Eswatini, who were Cuban, Jamaican, Laotian, Vietnamese and Yemeni, were imprisoned in a high-security prison in Matsapha, known for holding political prisoners and for being overcrowded.

Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have taken legal action to challenge the legality of the detentions and demand that the government of this poor country of 1.3 million people make public the terms of its agreement with Washington.

The NGO Human Rights Watch said on September 23 that the United States' deportations of these detainees to African countries under "opaque agreements" violated international law and should be rejected.

HRW said it had learned of the agreement between the United States and the small state, which provides $5.1 million in financial aid to strengthen its border and migration management capabilities.

In return, Eswatini agreed to take in up to 160 people, according to HRW.

Ghana welcomed 11 people from West Africa in early September, before expelling at least six of them to Togo, sparking criticism from human rights activists.