ACCRA, Ghana — An international coalition of human rights lawyers has filed a lawsuit against Ghana, accusing the government of violating international legal protections by returning U.S. deportees to countries they had previously fled, according to The Associated Press.
The case, filed Tuesday before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the latest legal challenge involving African countries that have signed third-country deportation agreements with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The coalition, which includes the Global Strategic Litigation Council, argues that Ghana accepted non-Ghanaian deportees from the United States before facilitating their return to countries where they allegedly faced persecution, despite existing legal protections.
Case Centers on 27 Deportees
The lawsuit represents 27 people among at least 60 individuals the United States has deported to Ghana since September 2025 under a bilateral agreement between the two governments.
According to the coalition, many of those deported had previously received protection orders from U.S. immigration judges preventing their removal to their countries of origin because of potential risks to their safety.
The legal filing alleges that after arriving in Ghana, most of the 27 individuals were transferred to their home countries within hours or days, despite informing Ghanaian authorities about those U.S. protections.
Some deportees also reported being shackled during flights from the United States.
After arriving in Ghana, they said they were detained under armed guard in military facilities, hotels and airport holding areas, often in difficult conditions while awaiting onward deportation.
Rights Lawyers Cite International Law
The coalition argues that Ghana violated the international principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits states from returning individuals to countries where they face persecution, torture or other serious harm.
Medical evaluations submitted with the lawsuit reportedly identified symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression among several of the deportees represented in the case.
The lawsuit asks the ECOWAS court to halt additional deportation transfers under the agreement, require Ghana to disclose the terms of its arrangement with the United States, award compensation to affected individuals and prohibit the country from entering similar agreements in the future.
A spokesperson for Ghana’s government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Growing Legal Challenges to U.S. Deportation Agreements
According to rights advocates, Ghana is one of at least nine African countries that have entered agreements with the United States to accept deportees who are not their own nationals.
Advocacy organizations say the Trump administration has deported thousands of migrants to nearly two dozen third countries under similar arrangements as part of broader immigration enforcement efforts.
Immigration lawyers argue that such agreements can serve as an indirect mechanism for returning asylum seekers to countries from which they were previously protected.
Earlier this month, another coalition of rights lawyers filed a separate legal challenge against Equatorial Guinea before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, alleging that the country similarly returned U.S. deportees to their home countries in violation of international human rights obligations.
The Ghana case marks the first lawsuit brought under a 1979 ECOWAS treaty guaranteeing freedom of movement across West Africa, potentially setting an important legal precedent for future regional migration and human rights disputes.
Tags: Ghana, United States, ECOWAS, Global Strategic Litigation Council, Donald Trump, Deportation, Human Rights, Non-Refoulement, Immigration, Asylum Seekers, Equatorial Guinea, West Africa
