Advocacy groups on Tuesday filed a complaint on behalf of people deported from the United States of America  to Ghana by the Donald Trump administration with the regional bloc representing West Africa.

According to a statement, the complaint, known as an application for a case was filed against Ghana before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States on behalf of 27 deportees.

At least 60 people were deported to Ghana in total starting in September 2025, in what the Trump administration describes as a strategy to end illegal ⁠and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security.

The complaint said the deportees told authorities they had been granted protections in the U.S. but most of them were removed within hours or days of their arrival in the countries they had escaped.

Some were stranded in third countries with no means to continue their journeys.

Reuters could not immediately reach the spokespeople at ECOWAS and the government of Ghana for comment.

A litigator for the Global Strategic Litigation Council representing the deportees, Beatrice Njeri, told Reuters they aimed ⁠to discourage other ECOWAS members from entering into similar deals with the Trump administration.

Ms Njeri said the group was also seeking at least 100,000 dollars in compensation for each deportee from Ghana, along with other reparations.

⁠The coalition of advocacy groups representing them said the deportees feared for their safety and most are in hiding at home or in third countries.

In a report published in February, Democrats on ⁠the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the total cost of third-country removals was unknown.

It was stated that more than 32 million dollars had been sent directly to five countries, including 7.5 million dollars ⁠to the Equatorial Guinea.

The advocacy groups said the lawsuit aimed to force Ghana to disclose the terms of the deal with the Trump administration and block Ghana from accepting any future deportees under the arrangement.

(Reuters/NAN)