An Accra High Court has struck out a human rights suit filed on behalf of eleven West African nationals after it emerged that the group had already been deported over the weekend.
The applicants, four Nigerians, three Togolese, two Malians, one Gambian and one Liberian—had asked the court to stop their repatriation and compel the government to produce them, insisting they were being held in Ghana against their will.
When the case was called on Tuesday, September 23, presiding judge Priscilla Ofori stressed the matter’s wider significance.
“I have perused the necessary order and considering the fact that the case is of national and international interest I am of the opinion that it would be in the interest of justice for the two motions brought ex parte to be brought on notice to the respondent for consideration,” she said.
But lead counsel Oliver Barker-Vormawor informed the court that the applications had become redundant.
“We had before the court two applications, one seeking a writ of habeas corpus and the second for an interim injunction preventing the repatriation of the applicants in the substantive human rights action.
“Unfortunately, when we appeared on Thursday, last week, the court adjourned the matter to this morning and declined our prayer to grant an order to prevent removal in the interim.
“We have to inform the court that the persons whose human rights we were seeking to enforce were all deported over the weekend, and as such, our applications have become moot. This is precisely the injury we were trying to prevent,” he said.
Barker-Vormawor further urged the court to adopt a firmer stance in future cases.
“As the court has recognised the national and international interest in these matters, several more refugee seekers are to be brought in pursuant to an agreement between the government and the US authorities and if urgent applications of this nature are not treated with the sensitivity required, our courts will be disabled from doing justice.”
Though expressing dissatisfaction with the deportation, the court allowed the lawyer’s request to withdraw.
“The court is, however, not happy with the news of the deportation of the persons on whose behalf the instant applications are before the court and since counsel for the applicant pray to withdraw the applications before the court, that is the two motions ex parte and the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction which was filed on Friday, September 19.
In view of the prayer made by the counsel for the applicant to withdraw the suit is hereby struck out as withdrawn,” the judge ruled.
