The US has deported five migrants to the tiny southern African nation of Eswatini as President Donald Trump’s administration steps up its aggressive deportation campaign to third countries.

The US says it has deported what it described as five "criminal illegal aliens" to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini.

The U.S. policy echoes approaches tried in Australia, Britain and elsewhere. The Trump administration’s plan to deport people to countries where they are not citizens represents a sharp change for the United States, where such expulsions have been rare. But other countries have tried similar policies.