Ghana Sued by U.S. Deportees for Unlawful Detention

Eleven people detained in Ghana after being deported from the U.S. are suing President John Mahama’s government.

Their lawyer, Oliver-Barker Vormawor, said that the deportees had not violated any Ghanaian law, and their detention in a military camp was therefore illegal.

Vormawor wanted the government to produce the group in court and justify why they were being held against their will. President Mahama said 14 deportees of West African origin arrived in the country after an agreement with the U.S.

The group had been held in a U.S. detention facility before being shackled and flown on a military aircraft to Ghana under the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policy. The government has not yet commented on the lawsuit, but previously said it plans to accept another 40 deportees.

Opposition MPs are demanding the immediate suspension of the deportation deal until Parliament ratifies it, saying that’s required under Ghanaian law.

By Allafrica