The Asylum and Refugee Rights Advocacy Foundation, also known as the Asylum And Refugee Rights Advocates (ARRA), has raised concerns over what it describes as a deeply troubling trend in U.S. immigration policy: the deportation of migrants not to their home countries but to third nations, including Ghana and other African states.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, September 21, 2025, and signed by its Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Okey James Ezugwu, Esq., a Legal Practitioner and Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration Service (retired), ARRA declared that the practice violates international law, undermines the sovereignty of receiving states, and places deported individuals at grave risk.
Citing a recent incident, ARRA revealed that earlier this month, a U.S. deportation flight arrived in Accra carrying 14 migrants who were not Ghanaian nationals. “Some of these individuals allegedly entered the United States irregularly, with reports indicating that several had pending protection or asylum claims. Unfortunately, this is no longer an isolated incident,” the statement noted.
According to the advocacy group, similar deportations have been documented to South Sudan, Eswatini, Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti, Panama, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. While the United States insists the removals are lawful, ARRA stressed that “international law and long-standing human rights norms raise serious concerns.”
Central to ARRA’s objections is the principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which prohibits sending individuals to places where they risk persecution, ill-treatment, or serious harm. “Deporting individuals to countries with which they have no familial, cultural, or legal ties—often on little more than 24 hours’ notice and without proper opportunity to pursue asylum—undermines this fundamental principle,” ARRA warned.
The group also condemned reports of abusive shackling, poor treatment during transport, inadequate screening and legal safeguards before removal, and the inability of receiving countries to properly integrate deportees. “Accepting deportees without clear legal basis risks creating the perception of complicity in policies that treat vulnerable human beings as burdens rather than rights-holders,” the statement cautioned.
Dr. Ezugwu underscored that the practice strains the already limited resources of African states and raises difficult questions from citizens. “Why must scarce national funds be directed toward accommodating non-nationals abruptly redirected to them by a foreign power?” he asked.
ARRA further warned that the policy sets “a dangerous precedent on a regional level—that responsibility for migrants and asylum seekers can be outsourced by powerful countries, with little or no accountability.” Such practices, the group argued, weaken the sovereignty of nation states and undermine regional solidarity on migration governance.
The statement also highlighted the human cost, stressing that once migrants are removed from the United States, their access to legal recourse is “virtually extinguished.” In many receiving nations with fragile or underfunded asylum systems, deportees are left with “few options for protection” and face heightened vulnerability to exploitation, trafficking, and irregular survival strategies.
Turning to solutions, ARRA urged the United States to suspend third-country deportations immediately “until robust safeguards, transparency, and accountability mechanisms are established in full compliance with international human rights and refugee law.” The group also called on Ghana and other targeted countries to exercise due diligence before entering into such arrangements, and appealed to the United Nations, African Union, and regional blocs to convene urgent discussions toward a framework that protects the dignity and rights of deportees.
“The sovereignty of nation states should not be bartered away under unequal arrangements, nor should vulnerable people be treated as disposable,” Dr. Ezugwu declared. “At its heart, this issue is not only about migration; it is about sovereignty, justice, and humanity.”
In closing, ARRA posed a series of pressing questions: “Who bears ultimate responsibility for the well-being of deported migrants when powerful states relinquish that duty? What is the long-term cost to receiving nations when they accept such arrangements—sometimes at the expense of their sovereignty and stability? Do receiving states truly have a choice, or is consent shaped by political and economic pressure?”
Reaffirming its mission, ARRA pledged: “We stand firmly with displaced persons, with nation states seeking to protect their sovereignty, and with international partners working toward fair and humane migration systems.”
The statement positions ARRA as one of the leading voices challenging what it calls a dangerous erosion of human rights norms and state sovereignty in the global management of migration.
