While a total of 2,470 Ghanaian citizens are currently detained in United States (US) facilities awaiting their deportation, the country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, appears to be more interested in publicity stunts and outright propaganda in faraway China.
The detained Ghanaians are facing this current predicament apparently due to a lack of support from their own government.
The detention figure, which the government is aware of, citing data from US authorities, underscores a perceived failure to provide robust and timely consular assistance to citizens facing the trauma of deportation.
This is further complicated by allegations of inadequate support, such as limited legal backing from the Ghanaian government.
However, instead of speaking on the plight of these suffering Ghanaians, the Foreign Affairs Minister was rather engaged in propaganda and praise singing in China.
Mr Ablakwa told the Chinese Government that since assuming power, President John Dramani Mahama has worked hard to fix many of the challenges he inherited.
“He is fixing the economy, health care and education. Only a few days ago, he also fixed our football. Ghana has qualified to take part in the World Cup next year,” the minister claimed.
It would be recalled that Mr Ablakwa recently defended the government’s controversial agreement to accept West African nationals deported by the United States (US) in the name of Pan-African solidarity, while the fate of its own nationals remained unknown.
This stark contrast between diplomatic actions and national realities is rapidly escalating into a major political and humanitarian crisis.
According to recent figures from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a record 2,470 Ghanaian nationals are locked up in ICE detention centres, facing imminent removal from the United States.
This marked a significant increase driven by the Trump administration’s accelerated “Global Enforcement Initiative.”
Regrettably, while the government in Accra is extending a hand to deportees from Nigeria, Gambia, and other West African states, justifying the move on “humanitarian grounds” and the ECOWAS free movement protocol, diplomatic analysts and critics are asking a fundamental question about the detained Ghanaians.
Lack of Consular support
Ghana’s own mission in Washington has previously highlighted challenges in securing the necessary paperwork and due process for its nationals being deported, yet the recent diplomatic effort has been overwhelmingly focused on the “third-country” deportees.
Solidarity vs Sovereignty
The government has successfully negotiated the lifting of US visa restrictions on Ghanaians, a move some link directly to the agreement to accept the third-country deportees.
However, this diplomatic win comes at a high human cost as Ghana is receiving non-Ghanaians whom the US courts deemed too unsafe to send home, in what a U.S. judge called an “end-run” around legal protection.
For many observers, the government’s readiness to become a “deportation hub” for its West African neighbours, while 2,470 of its own citizens languish in foreign detention, represents a profound misplacement of national priority and a breach of the social contract.
The ongoing situation remains a critical test of leadership and humanity for the nation.
