- 11 West Africans deported to Ghana have been repatriated to their countries
- Lawyer says deportations happened before court could intervene
- Ghana insists it acted on humanitarian grounds and refused U.S. money
Eleven West African nationals who were deported from the United States to Ghana have now been sent back to their respective home countries.
According to Eko Hot Blog, the move has raised alarms over potential human rights violations.
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The individuals, who arrived in Accra with three Ghanaian deportees, had sought legal intervention to stop their removal, citing fears of torture, persecution, or degrading treatment upon return.
However, during a virtual court session on Tuesday, their legal representative, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, informed the judge that the deportations had already occurred before the court date.
“We regret to inform the court that the individuals whose rights we intended to protect were sent out over the weekend,” Barker-Vormawor told the court. He added.
“This is exactly the kind of harm we were trying to prevent.”
The lawsuit argued that at least eight of the deportees had been granted protection by U.S. immigration courts due to credible threats to their safety if returned to their home countries.
Among those deported were four Nigerians, three Togolese, two Malians, one Liberian, and one Gambian.
According to their lawyer, six of them have reportedly ended up in Togo, while the whereabouts of the remaining five remain unclear.
Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, recently explained that his administration had agreed to temporarily host deportees from other West African nations following requests from the U.S. government under Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.
The Ghanaian government clarified that its decision was based solely on humanitarian principles.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, addressed the matter at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, saying Ghana’s actions should not be seen as supporting Trump’s immigration agenda.
“We accepted these individuals purely out of compassion for our fellow Africans,” Ablakwa said.
He also stressed that Ghana did not take any money from the U.S. for doing so.
“We told the Americans clearly we will not accept even a dollar,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has expressed concern, saying it was not informed about the transfer of its citizens to Ghana.
Officials noted that in previous instances, deported Nigerians were sent back to the country directly from the U.S.
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