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The Asylum and Refugee Rights Advocacy Foundation, also known as the Asylum and Refugee Rights Advocates (ARRA), has issued a strong condemnation of the growing practice by the United States government of deporting migrants to countries other than their homelands, warning that the policy threatens both human rights and the sovereignty of nation states.

In a press statement dated Sunday, September 21, 2025, ARRA’s Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Okey James Ezugwu, Esq.—a Legal Practitioner and Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration Service (retired)—declared: “The Asylum and Refugee Rights Advocacy Foundation (ARRA) expresses profound concern over the increasing practice by the United States government of deporting migrants, not to their countries of origin, but to third states, including Ghana and other African nations.”

He drew attention to a troubling incident earlier this month when a U.S. deportation flight landed in Accra with 14 non-Ghanaians. According to ARRA, many of those individuals were alleged to have entered the United States irregularly, and some reportedly had pending protection or asylum claims. “Unfortunately, this is no longer an isolated incident,” the statement emphasized.

The Foundation noted that “similar deportations have been documented to countries such as South Sudan, Eswatini, Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti, Panama, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.” While Washington maintains that these removals are legal, ARRA countered that “international law and long-standing human rights norms raise serious concerns.”

Central to ARRA’s argument is the violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to places where they could face persecution or grave 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 the principle of non-refoulement,” the Foundation declared, stressing that the principle is “enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention.”

The statement also condemned persistent reports of abusive treatment during these deportations. ARRA pointed to “abusive shackling and poor treatment during transport; lack of adequate screening or legal safeguards before removal; [and] receiving states being ill-prepared or unequipped to integrate deportees, leaving them in limbo.”

Dr. Ezugwu underscored that this practice carries consequences for host governments as well. “This practice places governments of receiving countries in a difficult position,” he wrote. “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. It strains already-limited resources and raises legitimate questions from citizens about why scarce national funds must be directed toward accommodating non-nationals abruptly redirected to them by a foreign power.”

On the regional scale, ARRA warned that the practice “sets a dangerous precedent: that responsibility for migrants and asylum seekers can be outsourced by powerful countries, with little or no accountability.” Such an approach, the Foundation cautioned, “risks undermining the sovereignty of nation states and weakening regional solidarity on migration governance.”

For the migrants themselves, ARRA described the impact as “severe and immediate.” Once removed from U.S. soil, “their access to legal recourse is virtually extinguished,” the Foundation lamented. “In many receiving countries, asylum systems are weak or under-resourced, leaving deportees with few options for protection. With limited assistance from international organizations, many are left vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and irregular survival strategies.”

The Foundation appealed directly to Washington to change course. “The United States, long regarded as a champion of democracy and human rights, risks eroding its global goodwill by adopting a policy that prioritizes expediency over humanity. ARRA firmly believes that a country of such influence and capacity can—and must—pursue more just and sustainable solutions.”

To that end, ARRA called on Ghana and other potential host nations “to exercise due diligence and subject such requests to rigorous human rights scrutiny before making commitments.” The group also urged the United Nations, African Union, and regional blocs “to urgently convene discussions and develop a regional framework that ensures the safety, dignity, and rights of deportees while balancing the security needs of member states.”

Furthermore, ARRA stressed that “nation states must recognize that receiving migrants must be viewed primarily as a humanitarian responsibility and not simply a political transaction or security matter.” And, it insisted, “the U.S. government [must] immediately suspend third-country deportations until robust safeguards, transparency, and accountability mechanisms are established in full compliance with international human rights and refugee law.”

The statement ended with a series of pointed questions for the international community: “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?”

In a final reflection, Dr. Ezugwu asserted: “At its heart, this issue is not only about migration; it is about sovereignty, justice, and humanity. The sovereignty of nation states should not be bartered away under unequal arrangements, nor should vulnerable people be treated as disposable.”

Reaffirming ARRA’s position, the statement concluded: “ARRA stands firmly with displaced persons, with nation states seeking to protect their sovereignty, and with international partners working toward fair and humane migration systems.”

Signed in his capacity as Founder and Executive Director of ARRA, Dr. Okey James Ezugwu’s words leave no ambiguity: the Foundation is determined to challenge policies it believes threaten the dignity of migrants and the stability of receiving states.

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