Ghana agrees to accept West Africans deported from US

Ghana has become the latest country to accept people deported from the US as part of its campaign against undocumented migrants.

President John Mahama said nationals from various West African countries would now be taken in following a bilateral agreement with the US. He said 14 had already arrived.

He cited the regional bloc Ecowas’s free movement protocol that allows citizens of member states to enter and reside in other West African countries without a visa.

Last month, the US deported seven migrants to Rwanda while in the previous month five were sent to Eswatini and eight others to South Sudan.

The 14 people already deported to Ghana include “several” Nigerian and a Gambian, the president said. He did not specify the total number of deportees the country would take.

He said Ghana had already facilitated the return of the Nigerians back to their country by bus while the Gambian was still being assisted to go back to their country.

“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country,” he added.

Mahama described Ghana-US relations as a “tightening situation”, citing the hiked US tariffs on Ghanaian goods and visa restrictions on its nationals. He however said relations remained positive.

The Trump administration has approached a number of African countries to accept deportees as part of its push to deter immigration.

Some of those deported have been citizens of countries such as Jamaica, Vietnam and Laos, with rights groups arguing that this violated their basic rights.

Some countries have pushed back against the deportation strategy.

Nigeria, which has been a vocal opponent, has previously said it would not bow to pressure to accept third-country prisoners from the US.