Government has announced plans to receive some 245 Ghanaians who are due for deportation following a request from the Kuwaiti government.
The minister for information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who announced this on Friday in Accra said the deportees were illegally staying in the Western Asia country and will arrive in Accra on Saturday 23rd May 2020.
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah pointed out that “the Government of Kuwait has informed the Government of Ghana, of an intention to deport some 245 Ghanaians who are currently in the Kuwait illegally.
“The Government of Kuwait has further requested permission from the Government of Ghana to deport the said persons to Ghana on Saturday May 23, 2020. The Government of Ghana has subsequently granted, a special permit for the admission of the said deportees to Ghana. This deportation is to be executed via a special charter arrangement at the cost of the Kuwaiti Government”, he said.
The deportation of these persons comes at a time when Ghana has all its entry points closed as part of measures to stop the importation of the novel coronavirus in the country.
The Minister for Information added that the Government of Kuwait will bear the cost for the deportees who will be arriving on chartered flight.
Mandatory Quarantine of Deportees
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah however explained that arrangement have been made to mandatorily quarantine these 245 persons upon arrival into the country and subsequently test them for COVID-19 with the Nation Security Secretariat working in collaboration with the Military, Immigration and Police to ensure that the mandatory quarantine is adequately enforced.
“The deportees will be mandatorily quarantined and tested for covid-19 immediately upon arrival into the Ghana. Deportees who test positive will be supported with treatment. Deportees who test positive will remain in quarantine for a second test at the end of the 14 day quarantine period.
“In addition to the aforementioned covid-19 measures, the deportees will generally be received and handled in line with immigration regulations for all deportees. That is they will be in the custody of the state for preliminary investigations on the circumstances of their illegal stay in Kuwait. Upon completion of the investigations, a case by case determination will be made on the status and further handling of each deportee in accordance with law” he said.
He assured Ghanaians that government is working assiduously to “ensure the health of the general population” and that this latest development will not in any way erode the gains chalked by government so far towards the fight against the virus in the country.
