00:00Ghana is facing a legal challenge at West Africa's highest court over its role in accepting migrants
00:06deported from the United States under President Donald Trump's third country deportation policy.
00:12Human rights lawyers have filed a case on behalf of 27 deportees arguing Ghana violated regional
00:19and international law by helping return people to countries where they risk persecution,
00:24torture or serious harm. The lawsuit says many of those deported have
00:29previously been granted asylum or other legal protections in the United States but were instead
00:35flown to Ghana because U.S. courts blocked their direct removal to their home countries.
00:41Lawyers also allege that some deportees were later sent onward to neighbouring Togo
00:46without identity documents, leaving them stranded and vulnerable. According to the legal team,
00:53at least 60 people have been deported to Ghana since September under the policy.
00:58The court filed before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Nigeria seeks to hold
01:04Ghana accountable for facilitating what campaigners describe as unlawful deportations
01:10and could test the legality of third country removal agreements across the region.
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