Ghanaians are the 5th highest deportees in the world and here’s all you need to know

Ghanaians living in the United States of America are the fifth highest deportees according to U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson.

Jackson revealed that Ghanaians are the fifth highest in the world as far as the U.S. deportation list is concerned.

The US envoy added that the number of Ghanaians in the U.S. facing deportation is the fifth highest number in the world after China, India, Russia and The Philippines.

“Almost 7,000 Ghanaians in the U.S. are facing deportation. And may I add; the number of Ghanaians in the U.S. facing deportation is the fifth highest number in the world after China, India, Russia and The Philippines, all of whom have much larger populations, so, let’s deal with this problem and get it out of the bilateral relationship”.

Reasons for deportation

In a report by Citifmonline website, Ghanaians living in different states of the United States of America are being deported for various immigration offences such abuse of the terms of their visas and engaging in illegal employment.

Ghanaians deported according to report are from different regions of the African gold coast that include Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West, Western, Eastern, Upper East, and Volta Region.

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Deportation statistics in the last five years

According to data provided by the Ghana Immigration Service, GIS, here are the statistics of deportation in the last five years.

2013

In 2013, a total of 2, 940 Ghanaians were deported while the number of Ghanaians who were refused entry into the various countries they were traveling to at airports amounted to 676. A total of 237 Ghanaians were voluntarily repatriated from various countries back home. While 179 people who hid aboard ships (stowaways) were also arrested and deported to Ghana.

2014

2014 recorded the total number of deportees as 3,556. The 3,556 Ghanaians were deported from various countries around the world in 2014. In the same vein, 2,618 were deported while 725 were refused entry; and 137 were removed or refused entry. 93 Ghanaians returned home through voluntary repatriation while 77 stowaways were arrested and deported.

2015

723 Ghanaians were deported in 2015 from countries that include UK, US, Kuwait, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Italy, Egypt, and Malaysia.

Saudi Arabia deported 291 Ghanaians, USA deported 74, UK deported 44, Kuwait deported 44, Germany deported 41, Malaysia deported 22, Thailand deported 14, Italy deported 13, Israel deported 13, and Egypt deported six citizens of Ghana.

The data also showed that 723 Ghanaians were deported for non-compliance to immigration and other related laws of the countries they were deported from.

2016

2016 recorded a total of 1,968 Ghanaians deportees. Statistics from GIS revealed that were either deported or refused entry to the country they were traveling to. 1,245 Ghanaians were refused entry for failing to meet their respective entry conditions in 2016.

2017

Since 2017, at least 7,000 Ghanaians in the U.S. await deportation. US envoy, Robert Jackson, revealed that the 7,000 Ghanaians have been pegged for deportation for abusing the terms of their visas.

2018

In March 2018, 86 Ghanaians were deported from the United States of America to Ghana. The deportees, according to various reports, were arrested in different states for various immigration offences such abuse of the terms of their visas and engaging in illegal employment.

Ghana could face visa sanctions

The US envoy to Ghana, Robert Jackson also said Ghana could face visa sanctions if the failure to adhere to the deportation process for 7,000 of her citizens in U.S. Jackson said: “The statement that the U.S. Embassy issued saying that Ghana could face visa sanctions is not a threat and I don’t want it to be a threat. What I want is for the Embassy of Ghana in the U.S. to interview one person facing deportation and issue one travel document every business day, if the embassy does that, we will solve this problem and it’s nothing more complicated than that.

“I’ve been talking with the Government of Ghana over this for over two years, this is not hasty, I’ve talked to members of parliament, I’ve talked to people in the old government, I’ve talked to people in the current government, I am acting on instructions, this is not something that I initiated but we will enforce our immigration laws”, Mr Jackson insisted.