Forty Ghanaians aged between 21-70 years have been deported from the United States of America (USA).
The deportees made up of 38 males and two females arrived on board a chartered flight, Omni Air International Boeing 777 - OAE 328, Monday.
Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI), Barbara Sam confirmed the arrival in a statement.
She said two of the deportees travelled with their Ghanaian passports while 38 others were with Travel Certificate (TC) issued by the Ghana Mission in Washington, DC.
The 40 deportees were said to have been engaged in various offences, ranging from drug possession, larceny, assault, theft, sexual assault, identity theft, illegal entry, forgery/fraud, resisting arrest and other non-criminal offences.
Upon arrival at the KIA, they were taken through the required disembarkation process chief among which is authenticating their nationalities.
Present at the airport were GIA officials, as well as other security agencies including the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
NADMO was on hand to ensure that the deportees had onward transportation to their respective destinations.
Related: I can’t sanction deportation of Ghanaians from US – Ghana Ambassador
Ghana’s Ambassador to the U.S., Dr Barfuor Adjei-Bawuah, has been caught in a cat and mouse game with the American authorities piling pressure on him to sanction the deportation of 7000 of Ghanaians.
He has described as unfair pressure on him to give his approval for hundreds of Ghanaians to be sent home for violating U.S. immigration laws.
“It leaves me with difficulty to sanction the deportation of my citizen and I have been trying hard to explain this to the authorities,” he told Joy News’ Elton John Brobbey last year.
The Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has insisted Ghana will not facilitate the deportations following weeks of diplomatic pressure from the US.
According to her, the US wants an agreement with Ghana to deport illegal immigrants within 24 hours on a chartered flight. They also want the Ghana government to issue a certain number of travel documents per week.
The US government has not hidden its feelings about the presence of illegal immigrants since Donald Trump took office as president.
Already the US has imposed visa restriction on some categories of government officials for refusing to accept some 7000 individuals marked for deportation to Ghana
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
Latest Stories
-
Elikem Treveh: How TEIN UMaT students contributed significantly to NDC’s victory in Tarkwa Nsuaem constituency
10 minutes -
Joy FM Family Party in the Park kicks off with excitement at Aburi Botanical Gardens
26 minutes -
JP U-15 Cup 2024: Fadama Ajax wins maiden edition
54 minutes -
Lured for Love, Caged for Cash: How an 80-year-old American seeking love was kidnapped in Ghana by a Nigerian gang
1 hour -
Star Oil Ltd @ 25: Driving Growth and Profitability with a Vision for Renewable Energy and a Sustainable Future
2 hours -
American Airlines resumes flights after technical issue
3 hours -
NDC Greater Accra Chairman dismisses unauthorised appointment nomination request
3 hours -
Man City might miss out on Champions League – Guardiola
4 hours -
Joy FM’s Party in the Park set to thrill at Aburi Botanical Gardens today
4 hours -
KiDi performs with childhood idol, Kojo Antwi at ‘Likor On The Beach’
4 hours -
South Korea MPs file motion to impeach acting president
5 hours -
Star Oil Ltd @ 25: Driving growth and profitability with a vision for renewable energy and a sustainable future
5 hours -
Bald eagle officially declared US national bird after 250 years
5 hours -
Krachi East leads Oti MDAs in 2023 Performance Evaluation
6 hours -
‘Accept the results in humility’ – Speaker Bagbin’s call for reflection after 2024 elections
6 hours