ABUJA — Advocacy groups filed a complaint against Ghana at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice on June 29, 2026. The complaint alleges Ghana aided the United States in deporting individuals to nations where they could face serious harm.

The complaint was filed on behalf of 27 deportees who were sent to Ghana under the U.S. "third-country" removal policy. This policy applies to individuals whom U.S. judges have ruled cannot be directly returned to their home countries. At least 60 deportees have been sent to Ghana under this U.S. policy since September.

The complaint states that several deportees informed authorities they had been granted protections in the U.S. Most of the 27 deportees were removed from Ghana within hours or days of their arrival and sent to the countries from which they had originally fled. Some deportees were stranded in third countries without means to continue their travel.

Merton & Everett LLP, Cornell Law School's Transnational Disputes Clinic, and the Global Strategic Litigation Council filed the lawsuit. The Global Strategic Litigation Council is a coalition of non-governmental organizations. The ECOWAS Court of Justice, the top judicial body for the Economic Community of West African States, will hear the case. The Economic Community of West African States is a regional bloc comprising 12 countries.

The complaint alleges that Ghana is violating domestic and regional law by facilitating removals to unsafe countries. Ghana confirmed its agreement with the U.S. relates to West Africans but has not disclosed the terms of this agreement. The U.S. reversed visa restrictions it had imposed on Ghana shortly after the removal agreement took effect.

The advocacy groups stated that the lawsuit aims to compel Ghana to disclose the terms of its deal with the Trump administration. It also seeks to prevent Ghana from accepting any future deportees under the arrangement. The groups stated that none of the 27 deportees in the complaint remained in Ghana.