By Mevlut Ozkan
ISTANBUL (AA) - President John Dramani Mahama said that Ghana has agreed to accept third-country nationals deported from the US and has received 14 so far, mostly Nigerians and one Gambian.
“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,” Mahama told reporters at the Presidential Media Encounter on Wednesday, according to media reports.
He said Ghana’s arrangement complies with the ECOWAS West African bloc free movement protocol, which allows West Africans to enter and stay in member states for up to 90 days.
Mahama said the Nigerian deportees were transported to Nigeria by bus at their request, while Ghana is in talks with Gambia to repatriate its national, who requires further coordination with the Gambian Embassy to secure an air ticket.
Ghana has become the fifth African country to accept third-country nationals deported from the US, following Uganda, Rwanda, Eswatini, and South Sudan.
Last week, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights expressed concern about deals by Rwanda and Uganda with the US.
The African Union’s rights body urged African states to ensure transparency in the deportation deals, protect the rights of deportees and avoid policies that risk turning the continent into a “drop-off zone” for arbitrary expulsions.
In July, Trump used a White House meeting with the presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal to ask each of the leaders to take third-country migrants deported from the US.
The response from African countries has been mixed, with some accepting, but others, such as Nigeria, refusing to bow to pressure to accept deported Venezuelans.