Ghana Receives First Group of West African Nationals Deported From US

According to President John Dramani Mahama, Ghana has taken in its first group of West African nationals deported from the United States. This was under a recent bilateral agreement between the two countries.

As reported by Businessdayng, these deported individuals are fourteen in total, most are Nigerians; one is a Gambian.

For sometime now, the US has been pushing for agreements with foreign governments to receive deportees who aren’t citizens or are undocumented immigrants.

President Mahama stated in his press briefing that, the move aligns with Ghana’s obligations under the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement, which allows West African citizens to enter and stay in other member states without a visa for up to 90 days.

An except from President Mahama’s statement: “We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US, and then we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable, because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country.

“So if they decided to travel from the US to Accra, they don’t need a visa anyway. So if you are bringing our colleague West Africans back, that’s okay.”

This decision reaffirms Ghana’s commitment to regional integration under ECOWAS, especially around freedom of movement among West African states.

However, Human Rights groups and migrants have expressed worries about deportation policies, especially when people are sent to countries they have little ties with – this raises safety and security concerns.