A Cambodian man deported by the United States to Eswatini says he would have accepted being sent back to Cambodia, but instead found himself imprisoned in a country he knew so little about that, when he first saw the name, he thought it was another immigration detention centre in Louisiana.
The man, Pheap Rom, was one of 10 deportees sent to Eswatini by the US in October 2025. He had previously been convicted of attempted murder.
Rom was among a group of deportees sent to the small southern African country in a series of transfers that began earlier in the year. In July, five men from Cambodia, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam and Yemen were deported to Eswatini. The later group of 10 brought the total number sent there last year to 15.
All of the deportees were placed in a maximum-security prison in Eswatini. Rom was later deported from Eswatini to Cambodia in March.
The case has drawn attention to the unusual path taken by people removed from the US and sent to a country many of them had little or no connection with. Rom’s account highlights the uncertainty and confusion that can follow deportation decisions, especially when people are sent far from the place they expected to go.
Rom said he would have accepted being sent to Cambodia. Instead, he ended up in Eswatini, a country whose name he did not recognize at first. His experience has raised questions about process, destination, and the treatment of deportees after they are removed from US custody.
For Rom, the issue is not only where he was sent, but whether he and others in similar circumstances received fair treatment. As he put it, they still deserve due process.
