MBABANE, March 26 - A Cambodian national who was deported to Eswatini by the U.S. administration after completing a 15-year prison term for attempted murder has been released from custody and is being returned to Cambodia, his lawyer said.
Pheap Rom was freed from an Eswatini correctional facility on Wednesday, and on Thursday he was in the process of repatriation to his country of origin, according to his lawyer, Tin Nguyen. A spokesperson for Eswatini's correctional services did not respond to requests for comment. Two legal contacts in Eswatini, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly, independently confirmed the release.
The release marks the second confirmed case among at least 19 individuals sent to Eswatini as part of transfers of third-country deportees. Earlier this month Eswatini said it had taken in four additional third-country deportees from the United States as part of an arrangement valued at roughly $5 million between the two countries.
Prior to Rom's release, the only other deportee known to have been freed was a Jamaican man who was repatriated in September. Eswatini is one of multiple African states that have entered agreements to accept third-country deportees from the United States - arrangements that were pursued under the Trump administration's efforts to tighten immigration enforcement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in June that the deportees sent to Eswatini were "so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back."
That characterization has been strongly criticised by rights groups, which have condemned the practice of sending immigrants to third countries. Rights organisations have highlighted cases in which deportees have been detained without charges or returned to countries they had fled because of fear of persecution.
Eswatini has disputed assertions that some countries rejected their citizens. The government has stated that it does not accept that claim and that it intends to repatriate all of the deportees in its custody.
Details about the broader processing timeline for those still in Eswatini, and about any further repatriations, remain limited in public statements. The lawyer's account and the confirmations from two legal sources provide the current public record on Rom's release and transfer back to Cambodia.