300 West Africans including Ghanaians to be deported to Sierra Leone annually under new deal with US

• Sierra Leone has signed a deal with the United States to accept up to 300 deported ECOWAS migrants yearly, including people from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea.

• The first group of 25 deportees is expected to arrive in Sierra Leone on May 20 as part of the US third-country deportation programme.

• Concerns have been raised over similar deportation arrangements involving Ghana and other African countries, warning that migrants could eventually be forced back to unsafe home countries.

Sierra Leone has agreed to receive hundreds of West African migrants deported from the United States under a new arrangement with Washington, with Ghanaians expected to be among the first group transferred to the country later this month.

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According to Reuters, the first flight carrying “third-country deportees” is scheduled to arrive on May 20 with 25 migrants from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea and Nigeria.

Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister, Timothy Kabba, confirmed that the agreement allows the country to accept up to 300 ECOWAS citizens annually from the United States, with a monthly cap of 25 deportees.

The development marks the latest expansion of the United States’ third-country deportation programme under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has increasingly relied on African countries to receive migrants who are not nationals of those states.

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Under the arrangement, Sierra Leone becomes the latest African nation to cooperate with Washington on migrant removals, joining countries such as Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.

Kabba told Reuters the agreement was part of Sierra Leone’s expanded bilateral relationship with the United States and support for American immigration policy. However, he did not disclose what Sierra Leone would receive in exchange for accepting the deportees.

The agreement is already raising concerns across Africa and the United States, particularly because similar deportation arrangements involving Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have previously led to migrants being returned to countries they originally fled despite legal protections granted by U.S. courts.

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Reuters indicated that, it had earlier published investigations this year which revealed that some West African migrants deported from the United States to Ghana were later forced back to their home countries, even after American judges had issued protections intended to prevent their removal.

It remains unclear whether the deportees arriving in Sierra Leone will be permitted to remain there permanently or eventually be returned to their countries of origin.

Sierra Leone’s government has yet to publicly outline the long-term legal status or protections that will apply to the migrants after arrival.