U.S. lifts visa ban on Ghana

The United States (US) has lifted its visa restrictions on Ghana just as the West African nation emerges as a dumping ground for Washington’s controversial deportation policy under President Donald Trump.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the reversal on Friday, revealing that “months of high-level diplomatic negotiations” had paid off. He said US officials delivered the “good news” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The decision means Ghanaians can now qualify for five-year multiple entry visas and other expanded consular privileges. This comes after months of being restricted to three-month, single-entry visas, alongside nationals of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Cameroon.

But the twist is Ghana’s new role in Trump’s immigration war. President John Mahama earlier confirmed that the country is now receiving West Africans deported from the US, even people with no family ties to Ghana.

Accra insists it has gained nothing in return, with Mahama only admitting the deal came as relations with Washington were “tightening” amid sanctions and visa bans.

Rights advocates are crying foul. At least 14 West Africans have been sent to Ghana since early September, with lawyers saying many had already won protection from US immigration courts. Shockingly, Ghana has quietly forwarded at least four deportees back to their home countries, according to AFP.

Conditions have also raised eyebrows. US-based lawyer Meredyth Yoon told AFP that between eight and 10 deportees were kept under military guard in Ghana, only to be suddenly dumped in Togo last weekend “and left to fend for themselves.”

Another plane carrying deportees reportedly landed in Accra this week, though the exact number on board remains unclear.

Ghana has defended its actions as “humanitarian,” stressing that accepting deportees does not mean endorsing Trump’s anti-immigration policy. But critics say the country has effectively been turned into a third-country deportation hub.