A group of lawyers has filed a case against Ghana at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the country’s involvement in receiving migrants deported under the United States’ third-country deportation policy.
The legal action was brought by a coalition comprising a Ghanaian law firm, a United States-based legal clinic and international human rights organisations. The applicants argue that Ghana violated domestic and regional human rights laws by accepting deportees who could face persecution, torture or other serious dangers if returned to their countries of origin.
The lawsuit follows changes to U.S. immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, which expanded the categories of migrants eligible for deportation. In situations where U.S. courts ruled that individuals could not be returned directly to their home countries because of safety concerns, some were instead deported to third countries, including Ghana.
According to the legal team, at least 60 people have been deported to Ghana since September, with 27 of them included in the current case. The lawyers said many of those affected had previously obtained asylum or other legal protections in the United States before being removed.
The suit alleges that Ghana’s actions facilitated transfers to countries where the deportees faced significant risks, contrary to international human rights obligations.
The legal representatives further stated that none of the 27 individuals involved in the lawsuit remains in Ghana. They said several have returned to their home countries and are living in hiding, while others have sought refuge in different countries as they await more permanent solutions.
The case comes shortly after another legal challenge was filed before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights seeking to stop similar deportations involving Equatorial Guinea.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is expected to examine whether Ghana’s role in the deportation arrangement breached regional human rights standards.
