The government of the Republic of Ghana has said that, it will no longer tolerate the ill treatment of Ghanaian deportees from the United States of America.
In a strongly worded letter to the Government of the Unites States of America, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, told the American government, that it must respect the rights and dignity of Ghanaian deportees. “That whilst the government of Ghana recognizes that countries act within their sovereign rights on matters on immigration, deportation processes must be consistent with international best practices and national laws and must uphold the dignity of the peoples involved” the letter stated.
It will be recalled that on the 24th of March 2018, some 86 Ghanaians were deported from the United States of America shackled in chains, which sparked intense outrage among Ghanaians. Consequently, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has taken steps to protest and register the outrage of Ghanains over this and other similar incidents in the past.
In the April 12th 2018 letter, sighted by Daybreak, the Minister for Foreign Affairs states that such practice “undermines the status of the United States of America as a champion of international human rights” and it will serve America well, if its law enforcement officials desisted from treating foreign national in a dehumanising manner, especially Ghanaian deportees.
In an interview with Daybreak, the Minister for Information, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, said that government will take steps to protect the interest and rights of every Ghanaian living everywhere. “It does not matter to us that it is the United States of America that is abusing the rights of our citizens. As a government, our allegiance is to the interests and wellbeing of the Ghanaian people and we shall do everything to protect those interests” Abdul-Hamid stated.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid refuted the point that America is a powerful nation, and therefore can do whatever it pleases. “America is a member of the comity of nations and therefore must act in tandem with the principles that govern the comity of nations” Abdul-Hamid added.
Ever since President Trump became President of the United States of America, there has been an increase in deportations of citizens, mostly of third world countries who are deemed to be illegally residing in the United States of America. And when these removals are being undertaken, the deportees are often shackled from the point that they board the planes until they disembark in their countries of origin.
Many African countries have made similar protests to the American government. After similar such protests from the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal, such treatment of Congolese and Senegalese has stopped. Even though the letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs did not state what action the government of Ghana will take if this practice does not stop, the Minister for Information tells Daybreak that, America needs its relationship with Ghana, as much as Ghana needs its relationship with America. He therefore believes that, this practice will stop after this strongly worded protest.
