Eleven people detained in Ghana after being deported from the US have sued the West African nation's government, their lawyer has told the BBC.
Oliver-Barker Vormawor said the deportees had not violated any Ghanaian law, and their detention in a military camp was therefore illegal. He wants the government to produce the group in court, and justify why they were being held against their will, the lawyer added.
The government has not yet commented on the lawsuit, but has previously stated plans to accept another 40 deportees. Opposition MPs are demanding the immediate suspension of the deportation deal until parliament ratifies it, citing legal requirements under Ghanaian law.
Last week, Ghana's President John Mahama announced that 14 deportees of West African origin had arrived in the country following an agreement with the US. However, he later suggested that all of them had returned to their countries of origin, a statement contradicted by Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who claimed only most had returned.
Mr. Vormawor's application to the court contradicts both, stating that 11 of the deportees remain detained in Ghana. The individuals were held in a US detention center prior to their deportation on a military cargo aircraft.
The deportations form part of the US administration's tough stance on immigration, aiming for record-high deportations of undocumented migrants.
Ghana's foreign minister has described the decision to accept deportees as based on humanitarian principle and pan-African empathy, clarifying that it does not equate to an endorsement of US immigration policies under President Trump.
Moreover, five of the detainees, three Nigerians and two Gambians, have also filed lawsuits against the US government, claiming protection under a court order that should have prevented their deportation.
