U.S – Lawsuit filed for over Ghana deportations

A group of 14 people from West Africa has been the latest to be deported from the U.S to Ghana. The lawyer of the group filed a lawsuit on October 15 seeking to stop the arrangement.

According to Africa News, a total of 42 deportees were accepted by the Ghanaian government, and the latest group of 14 West Africans arrived on October 13.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor, who represents the migrants, filed a lawsuit against the Ghanaian government, arguing that the agreement with Washington is unconstitutional because the Ghanaian parliament did not approve it.

Going ahead with this agreement can violate conventions that forbid people from going back to their country, especially where they can face persecution.

The administration of U.S President Trump has been honing down the illegal migrants that have entered the country, and is focusing on illegal migrants who have a criminal record.

Similar to this deportation programme that has now reached Africa, which stemmed from Donald Trump, a U.S deportation flight holding Southeast Asians on October 6, which flew to Eswatini.

The Eswatini government confirmed it would receive 11 deportees this month, and with a $5.1 million arrangement that could see up to 160 people detained.

Trump’s deportation plan also led to a Jamaican man who was also deported to Eswatini this year, and was detained for weeks, then sent back to Jamaica.

Lawyers told the press in September that out of the 14 deportees, 11 of them were being held at a military camp on the outskirts of the capital, Accra, and it was reported that the camp had been described as having terrible conditions.

This correlates to the plan that Trump had in place when transferring thousands of unauthorised migrants to the Guantanamo Bay Naval base.

Up to 9,000 individuals were being vetted for relocation to the remote U.S. facility in Cuba. These transfers to Guantanamo in June raised serious concern among international observers and also human rights advocates.

Since July, the U.S has deported other migrants to South Sudan, Rwanda and Ghana. There is also an agreement with Uganda; however, no deportations have been clarified as yet.

Rwanda have not mentioned where they are holding their seven deportees, and South Sudan is still detaining six of their deportees in an unknown facility.

Africa News, Maghrebi.org