Nineteen West African nationals deported from the United States to Ghana have been moved to undisclosed locations under armed guard, raising concerns about their safety and rights, their lawyer said on Thursday.

The group, which includes at least one Nigerian, arrived in Ghana on November 5 and was initially housed in a hotel. It has, however, been completely unreachable since being transported in two separate movements. Attorney Ana Dionne-Lanier reported that part of the group was bused to an unknown border location over the weekend, while her client and others were moved “under heavy armed guard” on Wednesday.

“We don’t know the location of any of them,” she said, adding that families have lost all contact with the deportees, who are protected from repatriation to their home countries due to risks of torture and persecution.

The disappearances are linked to a largely secretive U.S. program that has sent dozens of deportees to at least five African nations since July, including Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Human rights experts have criticized the initiative, questioning whether migrants receive proper screening before deportation and citing violations of international protections for asylum-seekers.

The program reflects the administration’s effort to remove migrants who cannot be returned to their home countries due to court rulings.

Ghana’s Democracy Hub rights group has filed a lawsuit alleging that the agreement with Washington is unconstitutional because it bypassed parliamentary approval and may violate conventions prohibiting returns to countries where people face persecution.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice told federal court that it has no control over how another country treats deportees, despite obtaining Ghana’s pledge not to return them to their home nations. The fate of the nineteen missing West Africans remains uncertain amid mounting diplomatic and legal tensions. (Adapted from a report by AriseNews TV)