Ghana’s handling of migrants deported from the United States has come under legal scrutiny at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, where human rights lawyers are challenging the country’s alleged role in accepting deportees under a controversial US immigration policy.
The suit, filed on behalf of 27 deported individuals, accuses Ghana of violating regional and international human rights obligations by facilitating the transfer of migrants to countries where they may face persecution, torture, or other serious harm.
According to the applicants, many of those affected were previously granted asylum or other forms of protection in the United States. However, they were reportedly removed under Washington’s third-country deportation arrangements after US courts restricted direct deportation to their countries of origin.
The lawyers further claim that some deportees were subsequently moved from Ghana to neighbouring Togo without proper identity documentation, leaving them in vulnerable and uncertain conditions.
The legal team estimates that at least 60 individuals have been sent to Ghana since September under the policy, which forms part of broader efforts by the US to manage migration flows.
The case, now before the ECOWAS Court sitting in Nigeria, seeks to establish Ghana’s legal responsibility in the process and could set a significant precedent for third-country deportation agreements within the West African subregion.
