HRW calls on African countries to refuse to accept people expelled by the US.

Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan have accepted in recent months people expelled by the United States under a Trump administration program to expel undocumented migrants.

HRW said it was aware of the agreement reached between the United States and the small African kingdom of Eswatini, which has not been made public and provides for financial aid of $5.1 million.

In return, Eswatini agreed to host up to 160 people, the NGO said in a statement.

In July, that country received a group of Cubans, Jamaicans, Laotians, Vietnamese, and Yemenis who had been convicted of crimes in the United States.

They remain incarcerated in the high-security Matsapha prison, notorious for its overcrowding and for housing political prisoners.

Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have appealed to the courts to challenge the legality of these arrests and demand that the government publish the terms of the agreement with Washington.

HRW also said it had learned of the agreement with Rwanda, which agreed to receive up to 250 people and provides for US financial assistance of approximately $7.5 million.

"The opaque agreements that facilitate these transfers are part of a US policy approach that violates international law (...) and seeks to exploit human suffering as a means of deterring migration," HRW stated.

The African governments urged to refuse to accept people expelled from the United States and to cancel existing agreements.

"These agreements make African governments complicit in the Trump administration's horrific human rights violations against migrants," said Allan Ngari of HRW.