Eleven US deportees of West African origin have been repatriated to their home countries over the weekend.
The deportees sued Ghana seeking an ex-parte interlocutory injunction to prevent their deportation to their home countries. They also filed a substantive application requesting a declaration that their alleged detention in Ghana was an abuse of their human rights.
Despite earlier claims by Ghanaian officials that 13 out of 14 deportees brought to Ghana had been sent back home on their request, the individuals through a court process challenged the country’s authorities.
Lawyers for four of the deportees had earlier told a US court their clients were being subjected to human rights abuse in Ghana.
In a virtual hearing on Tuesday, lead counsel for the deportees, Oliver Barker-Vormawor told the court the injunction application had become moot.
“We have to inform the Court that the people whose human rights were seeking to enforce were all deported over the weekend and as such, our applications have become moot,” he said.
The 11 were part of an initial 14 West African nationals deported to Ghana from the United States as part of the country’s arrangement with America under the ‘Third-country deportation’ program.
Ghana has since indicated it will receive 40 additional deportees.
Barker-Vormawor further revealed that ‘several’ of those 40 have already been brought into the country.
“As the Court has recognized the national and international interest in this matter, several more refugee seekers have been brought in pursuant to the agreement between the government and the US authorities,” he added.
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