Deportees were not manhandled – US Ambassador

United States (US) Ambassador Robert Porter Jackson has refuted suggestions that some Ghanaians recently deported from his country were treated harshly.

Some human rights activists condemned the US for keeping the deportees in shackles on a flight to Ghana. They also criticised US officials for treating the deportees in an inhumane manner.

However, Mr Jackson told the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament on Thursday, June 22 that such assertions were false.

“I flatly reject the idea that we treated people inhumanely. On the contrary I think we treated them as best as possible given the fact that they refused to leave the United States voluntarily,” he said.

He explained that the 63 who were deported came on a chartered air flight because they had refused to board a civilian aircraft to return voluntarily.

“I do not consider the conditions in which they were returned inhumane. They were fed, they had some freedom of movement on the flight. It was restricted for the safety of everyone on board but it is not as if they were chained to their seats and there will be additional deportations…” he said.

He said the expected deportation of 7000 Ghanaians who have committed crimes or overstayed their visas “does not in any way take away from the fact that tens of thousands of Ghanaians are residing in the United States legally and contributing to my country and they are welcome there”.