US third-country deportations have become the subject of a legal challenge at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, where lawyers are seeking to stop Ghana’s role in receiving deportees removed from the United States under the policy.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday at the regional court in Abuja by a coalition comprising Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP, the Cornell Law School Transnational Disputes Clinic in the United States and the Global Strategic Litigation Council.
The legal team said the case was brought on behalf of deportees sent to Ghana under the United States’ third-country deportation programme. According to the lawyers, many of those affected had previously obtained asylum or other legal protections in the United States but were later removed under an expanded immigration enforcement policy introduced by President Donald Trump.
The coalition alleged that Ghana violated domestic and regional legal obligations by facilitating the transfer of deportees to countries where they could face persecution or other serious risks. Senior Partner at Merton & Everett LLP, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, said: “no person should be returned to a place where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their dignity and safety.”
The legal coalition said at least 60 people have been deported to Ghana since September under the US third-country deportations policy, with 27 individuals represented in the current lawsuit. According to the filing, none of the 27 deportees remains in Ghana. The lawyers said many have returned to their home countries, where they are reportedly living in hiding, while others have relocated to different countries and remain uncertain about their future.
The lawsuit follows the United States’ broader immigration enforcement measures, which have expanded the categories of non-citizens targeted for deportation, including some individuals who previously enjoyed legal protections.
Under the policy, deportees who cannot legally be returned directly to their countries of origin because of risks such as torture or persecution may instead be transferred to designated third countries, including Ghana. The legal coalition noted that Ghana has provided limited public information about the agreement beyond indicating it would receive only West African deportees. It also pointed out that the United States later lifted visa restrictions previously imposed on Ghana shortly after the arrangement took effect.
A separate legal challenge was also filed earlier this month before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights over similar US third-country deportations involving Equatorial Guinea. The ECOWAS Court is expected to consider whether Ghana’s actions comply with regional human rights obligations under West African law.
