100 Ghanaians face deportation from the United States

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, 22 Ghanaians are currently in the process of being deported from the United States.

She said 100 Ghanaians on the list of persons were at different stages of removal from the USA.

She told Parliament when a question was posed to her by the Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, about the terms of the agreement reached with the USA leading to the lifting of visa restrictions and how many Ghanaians were to be removed.

Ayorkor Botchwey responding to the MP said 7,000, and at some point, 3,000 had been "bandied around", but unfortunately the request by the ministry for a list of Ghanaians who had flouted immigration laws had not been provided.

She said "So I cannot speak to these numbers because they have not been provided; at one point we were given a list of probably 100 as people who were being processed in different stages of the removal process.

"But since then, nothing has been given to us and as we speak we have 22 persons who are in the process of being removed, but nothing like the numbers that were mentioned at first" adding that during the period of sanctions in the USA, 125 Ghanaians who had been ordered to be removed were deported.

"However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the issuance of emergency travel certificates to facilitate their removal has been deferred until borders are re-opened.

"It should be noted that both sides put in place modalities intended to facilitate and ensure that a procedure was followed in the identification and issuance of the appropriate travel documents in accordance with Ghana’s obligation under international protocols," she noted.