A Ghanaian rights organisation has filed a lawsuit against the government over its acceptance of U.S. deportees, calling the arrangement unconstitutional.
Lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor said 14 West Africans arrived in Accra on Monday under a deal between Washington and Ghana, bringing the total number of deportees to 42.
Barker-Vormawor’s group, Democracy Hub, filed the case on Tuesday, arguing that the agreement bypassed parliamentary approval and violates international conventions protecting people from persecution.
Government spokesman Felix Kwakye Ofosu confirmed that the attorney general would defend the accord but offered no further comment.
The U.S. has ramped up deportations of undocumented migrants under a controversial programme initiated during former President Donald Trump’s administration, which sought to send offenders and undocumented individuals to third countries.
Since July, Washington has deported dozens of migrants to several African nations under largely secretive agreements, including Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
Rights groups have condemned the policy as opaque and inhumane, claiming it sends people to countries where they face detention, legal uncertainty, or persecution.
In September, lawyers representing the deportees told the Associated Press that 11 West Africans sent to Ghana were held at a military camp near Accra in “terrible conditions.”
Ten of those migrants were later deported to Togo, despite only two being Togolese, according to Barker-Vormawor.
The U.S. has also sent deportees to Eswatini, South Sudan, and Rwanda, while Uganda remains a signatory to the deal but has yet to receive any migrants.
Human rights advocates warn that the opaque deportation programme undermines international law and strips migrants of the right to seek safety and due process.