U.S. deportations to Ghana are under scrutiny after migrants with court protection were allegedly sent onward to countries where they feared persecution.
Rabbiatu Kuyateh, 58, was deported from the United States to Ghana despite a judge barring her return to Sierra Leone.
She was later forcibly returned home, an episode captured in a video showing her dragged across a hotel floor.
Lawyers say more than 30 third-country nationals were sent from the United States to Ghana last year.
At least 22 were then repatriated to their home countries despite U.S. court orders, according to a Reuters review.
Advocates say the policy uses third countries to bypass laws prohibiting returns to places where migrants face torture or persecution.
The U.S. government says deportees received due process and declined to address what happened after they entered other countries’ custody.
Ghana announced an investigation into Kuyateh’s case, but no findings have been made public.
Reuters also found Equatorial Guinea repatriated protected U.S. deportees, raising broader concerns about the third-country removal system.
A federal judge criticised the Ghana arrangement, suggesting it may sidestep legal obligations to protect migrants from harm.