A group of West African deportees has filed a lawsuit against Ghana at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, alleging that the country is violating regional and domestic laws by facilitating United States deportations to unsafe destinations.
The case, lodged on Monday, June 29, represents 27 of at least 60 people deported to Ghana since September 2025 under US President Donald Trump’s expanded third-country deportation policy.
According to the legal team, which includes Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP, the Cornell Law School Transnational Disputes Clinic and the Global Strategic Litigation Council, the deportees had sought or obtained asylum and other legal protections in the United States before being removed.
The lawsuit argues that no individual should be returned to places where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their safety and dignity. While Ghana has maintained that it would only accept West African nationals, authorities have not publicly disclosed the details of the arrangement with Washington.
The legal action follows a similar case filed earlier in June 2026 before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights concerning US deportations to Equatorial Guinea.
None of the 27 claimants in the ECOWAS case remain in Ghana, with many reportedly in hiding or seeking refuge elsewhere.