Western Region GIS marks International Migrants Day
The Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), on Tuesday, held a float to mark this year’s International Migrants Day on the theme, “Stop irregular migration, you are our future.”
The day identifies various forms of atrocities, abuses and violations an how countries could minimise them and also highlight the dangers involved in irregular migration particularly stowaways.
The float, which began from the GIS headquarters in Sekondi, saw staff and sister security agencies carrying placards, some of which read “Say no to human trafficking”, “Say no to stowaway”, “Stop irregular migration”, “The future is bright”, and “Regular migration saves money.’
The officers and men marched from the Gyandu Park, STMA, Prisons, Effia Nkwanta, Fijai junction, Pipe Ano, Paa Grant roundabout, through Market Circle and ended at the Takoradi Shopping Mall, amidst brass band music.
The day celebrated on December 18, each year, is set aside by the United Nations (UN) in 2000, to recognise the contribution of migrants to national development, identify inappropriate means to travel, including unauthorised crossing of national border, travelling with falsified document, over staying of traveling permits and seeking asylum without proper document, and finding ways of address them.
Speaking to journalists after the march, the Western Regional Commander of GIS, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration, Dr Prosper B. Delali Asima, said that about 50 foreigners were deported back to their home countries for irregular migration.
“The nationalities deported vary. We have mostly Chinese and Nigerians. But, we also had Pakistanis, Americans and Canadians. Majority of them overstayed their permits and a few other nationals who used unauthorised entry into the region,” he added.
He noted that most people, including Ghanaians desired to seek greener pasture using the desert to Libya, and quoted International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reports which stated that from June to August, this year, about 39, 000 irregular migrants used clandestine means to get to Europe, while 840 died in the process.
Dr Asima continued: “Others get drown at the high seas and in Ghana stowaways are very important dimension of migration in the Western Region, and so we will focus on the issues on the national celebration at New Takoradi, when we hold a medical screening together with the IOM and the European Union (EU), to sensitise the public on the dangers of irregular migration.
“People lose their lives traveling and criminal traffickers also sexually exploit some domestic girls, for example in Croatia. Some are also found themselves in slavery and servitude, and treated inhumanely.”
The GIS, he said, was poised to educate the public to ensure that they travelled safely, orderly and in a regular manner, and indicated that the border patrols and enforcement units and other security agencies had been deployed throughout the borders to deal with irregular migrants.
He again appealed to the youth to the take advantage of some of the government’s flagship programmes and work to build the country, instead of risking their lives traveling irregularly and exposed to dangers elsewhere.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, SEKONDI
