The Kingdom of Eswatini has announced it will not serve as a host country for five foreign nationals deported there by the United States, and will instead work to repatriate the individuals to their countries of origin. The decision comes just one day after the Trump administration claimed the migrants’ home nations had refused to take them back.

The five deportees—originally from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba—were flown to Eswatini in what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described as the first application of a “third-country” deportation following a recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld the controversial practice.

According to DHS, all five individuals had completed prison sentences in the U.S. for serious criminal offenses. The agency said they were deported to Eswatini after their respective home governments declined to accept them back.

“The flight included individuals whose own countries refused to take them back,” Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at DHS, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday night.

However, Eswatini swiftly pushed back against any suggestion that it had agreed to take in the deportees permanently. In a statement issued Wednesday, government spokeswoman Thabile Mdluli emphasized that the country was only serving as a transit point.

“The governments of Eswatini and the United States, together with the International Organization for Migration, will facilitate the transit of these inmates to their countries of origin,” Mdluli said.

But that assertion was partially contradicted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which stated that it had no involvement in the deportation from the U.S. and had not been asked to assist in the repatriation process.

The deportations follow a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows the federal government to send deportees to third countries, even if those nations have no prior connection to the individuals. Immigration rights groups have sharply criticized the move, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to “outsource responsibility” in line with its hardline immigration policies.

“This is not immigration enforcement; it’s abandonment of international norms,” one advocacy group said in a statement.

As the legal and diplomatic fallout unfolds, it remains unclear how and when the five migrants will be returned to their home countries—or whether those governments will ultimately comply with the U.S. and Eswatini’s repatriation efforts.