President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, September 10, confirmed that Ghana has begun receiving West African nationals deported from the United States under Washington’s third-country deportation arrangement.
According to Reuters, Mahama said the first batch of 14 deportees — comprising Nigerians, a Gambian, and others — had already arrived in Accra. Ghanaian authorities, he added, were facilitating their return to their respective countries.
“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and 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 explained.
He defended the policy, stressing that West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to enter Ghana.
The development follows intensified deportation efforts by President Donald Trump, who has promoted removals to “third countries” as part of his hardline immigration stance. Rights groups have previously raised concerns after similar deportations to Eswatini, South Sudan, and Rwanda.
Nigeria, however, has resisted such moves. In July, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar stated that the Federal Government would not accept deportees from outside Nigeria, citing national security and economic concerns.