Eleven West African deportees sent from the United States to Ghana under an agreement with the Trump administration face an uncertain fate, with their lawyer saying only six are confirmed removed and five remain unaccounted for.
- Eleven West Africans deported from the US to Ghana have faced re-expulsion, raising human rights concerns.
- Ghana’s government, under an agreement with the US, has accepted deportees from multiple West African nations but denied endorsing this policy.
- Other African countries, such as Nigeria, have resisted participating in the US deportation policy, creating diplomatic tensions.
- Lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor highlighted legal breaches in the handling of deportees, expressing fears for their safety.
Six West Africans deportees expelled from the United States to Ghana under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have been moved again, while the fate of five others remains uncertain, their lawyer said, raising fresh questions about the safety of deportees and Ghana’s role in Washington’s controversial policy.
Lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor told Reuters after a court hearing in Accra that six of the group had already been forced into neighbouring Togo, while the whereabouts of the other five remain unclear.
Only three of those sent to Togo are Togolese. The nationalities of the others has not been disclosed.
He described the development as a breach of legal protections, noting that at least eight of the deportees previously held U.S. court orders shielding them from removal to their home countries due to risks of torture and persecution.
The group included four Nigerians, three Togolese, two Malians, one Liberian and one Gambian.
Ghana’s uneasy role in US deportation policy
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama recently confirmed that his government had agreed to receive deportees from across West Africa under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The arrangement meant Accra was not only accepting Ghanaians but also nationals from Nigeria, Mali, Togo, Liberia, and The Gambia.
Officials in Accra have stressed that Ghana is not endorsing Washington’s policy and has not received compensation for hosting these deportees.
Still, the move has made Ghana a frontline state in the U.S. strategy of outsourcing deportations to African partners.
While Ghana has accepted returnees, other African governments have taken a more defiant stance.
Nigeria has publicly rejected U.S. attempts to offload non-Nigerian deportees on its territory, insisting it will only receive its own citizens. Similar hesitancy has been expressed in Kenya and South Africa, where concerns about security and integration remain high.
The mixed response further reflects how U.S. immigration policies are straining relations with African nations, many of whom see the returnees as victims of a politicised crackdown rather than simply failed migrants.
Human rights concerns linger
Barker-Vormawor’s failed court bid highlights the limits of legal protections for deportees once they are transferred from U.S. custody to African soil.
He argued that the new expulsions “are precisely the injury we were trying to prevent,” adding that the case he filed was now moot since the deportees had already been forced out.
Rights advocates warn that deporting people with established protection orders violates international law and could expose them to torture, imprisonment, or persecution in their home countries.
As deportations under Trump’s administration continue, Ghana’s experience illustrates both the risks faced by vulnerable migrants and the diplomatic dilemmas confronting African states asked to serve as buffers for U.S. immigration enforcement.
