Faith Nyasuguta
At least eleven immigrants deported from the U.S. to Ghana are suing the Ghanaian government, claiming their detention in a military camp is illegal. According to court filings, all 11 have not broken any Ghanaian laws and should be produced before court to explain why they are being held against their will.
These individuals, among fourteen flown from the U.S. in early September, come from nations including Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Gambia, and Liberia. While the Ghanaian presidency claimed all 14 had been returned to their home countries, the detainees and their lawyers maintain that 11 remain in a military facility on the outskirts of Accra, the capital.
They report disturbing conditions – unsanitary food, inadequate water, minimal shelter – and accuse authorities of restraint, forced shackles, and the use of straitjackets during the deportation flight.
Lawyers argue that five of them had protections under U.S. immigration law – some had already won fear-based relief, meaning they could not lawfully be returned to countries where they might face persecution or torture. Yet, they assert, those safeguards were ignored when the U.S. government transferred them to Ghana. The plaintiffs are seeking relief in Ghana’s High Court, demanding their release from detention and urging that no further deportations be carried out under similarly opaque arrangements.
Ghanaian officials have given conflicting statements. President John Mahama said all 14 were received and processed, then returned to their countries of origin. But Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa later contradicted this, saying that while many had left Ghana, some remain detained. The lawsuit directly challenges the government’s narrative, insisting that these eleven deportees are still held.
The case comes as part of a broader U.S. policy of deporting undocumented immigrants or foreign nationals with criminal convictions – but also under legal protection – to third countries under agreements that are raising human rights and legal concerns. Critics warn this could mark dangerous precedents: by moving people to nations other than their countries of origin, legal oversight can be sidestepped and protections undermined.
Human rights groups have long condemned such policies, arguing that due process, immigration law, and international refugee protections must not be bypassed in pursuit of political goals. The plaintiffs’ attorneys say their clients were denied clear explanations, contact with the outside world, or access to timely legal representation. Those remaining in detention say the conditions are harsh – crowded spaces, limited hygiene, exposure, inadequate water, and insufficient food.
While Ghana claims its involvement is based on humanitarian and pan-African grounds – agreeing to accept deportees from fellow West African countries – opponents and opposition MPs argue that any such agreement must first be approved by Ghana’s Parliament under national law. Transparency, they say, has been lacking.
As this case moves forward in court, it promises to test the limits of international deportation arrangements, the protections guaranteed by both U.S. and Ghanaian law, and whether governments can be held accountable for seeming to bypass legal norms. For the eleven deportees, the lawsuit is more than a demand for freedom – it is a demand for dignity, transparency, and the principle that no one should be held without lawful cause.
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