A Gambian who was among 14 West Africans deported from the US to Ghana has been sent to The Gambia, a Ghanaian government spokesman said on Monday.
The Gambian was deported alongside 13 Nigerians who have also been returned to Nigeria.
Authorities in Ghana defended accepting the deportees on humanitarian grounds.
Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pushed back on criticism that the decision was an endorsement of US President Donald Trump’s migration policies, saying Ghana accepted the third-country deportees “purely on humanitarian grounds.”
At a press briefing in the capital, Accra on Monday, Ablakwa said Ghana did not receive any financial compensation from the US over the deportation.
“We should rather be seen as a country that wants to look out for its fellow Africans, that is why we made it clear to the Americans that we will not accept $1,” the minister said of the rationale behind the government’s decision.
Nigeria’s government said it was not briefed about its nationals being sent to Ghana and that previously it had received Nigerians deported directly from the US.
Officials have pushed back on criticism of the deportation whose legality has been questioned by lawyers of the deportees.
“We believe that the plaintiff’s deportations to Ghana did not comply with principles of due process. These people were not told where they were going to be taken,” said Samantha Hamilton, the attorney for the deported migrants.
The authorities in Gambia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lawyers contradict authorities’ version
However lawyers for four of 14 West African men deported by the US to Ghana said Monday the men remained in that third country and had not been returned to their homes, contradicting an earlier statement by a Ghana official who said they have all been sent to their countries.
Legit.ng
