An operation targeting illegal migrants who enter Ghana through unapproved routes has led to the arrest of 28 Burkinabes.
They were arrested on Tuesday, September 8, at an unapproved route bordering neighbouring Burkina Faso near Hamile, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) said.
The Upper West Regional Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Immigration Service, Ibn Yussif Duranah in a statement copied to Dailymailgh.com said the migrants were handed back to the Burkina Faso authorities after Port Health personnel had screened them.
“The vigilante control officers on duty at some unapproved route around the Hamile Sector Command. Our men busted some Burkina Faso nationals who had crossed the border to enter Ghana to come and do whatever they wanted. So our men rounded them and where they were processed and repatriated. They included four females and 24 males and the age range is between one and 30.”
Ghana’s land borders remain closed to curb the spread of COVID-19 which has so far claimed over 280 lives.
The GIS on the other hand has resumed issuance of Emergency Entry Visas (EEV) following the re-opening of Ghana’s international airport to human traffic on September 1, 2020.
A statement from the GIS, dated Monday, September 7, 2020, disclosed that the applications will be for emergency entries only.
Issuance of EEV was temporarily suspended as a result of the closure of the country’s borders as part of measures to prevent the importation of COVID-19.
“The Ghana Immigration Service wishes to announce for the information of the travelling community and the general public that it has resumed the issuing of Emergency Entry Visas (EEV). This is in consonance with the directive of His Excellency, the President of the Republic for the re-opening of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to traffic effective 1st September 2020,” GIS explained in the statement.
It noted that the requirements for acquiring EEV remain unchanged.
“The travelling community and the general public are advised to at all times deal with the Ghana Immigration Service, and to demand a receipt for the EEV issued to them and ensure that the appropriate visa stickers are affixed in their passports,” the statement added.
GIS further admonished the travelling community and the general public to be wary of fraudsters who put up as middlemen issuing Emergency Entry Visas in the name of the Ghana Immigration Service.
“Any applicant who transacts business with such persons does so at his or her own risk,” the statement further added.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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