Students Warned Against Illegal Migration

Ghanaian students have been warned against illegal migration because of the danger and the potential phenomenon it has for destroying the aspirations of travellers. Eric Appiah, the Vice President of the Sahara Hustlers Association told students that “My brothers and sisters, it is better for you to stay in this country and build a good life than go through hell to be in a white man’s country where you will suffer to make a living.” He was speaking to over 1000 students at Keta Senior High School in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region during a public education forum organized by the Ghana Immigration Service. The forum was to enlighten the public on the new Immigration Amendment Act, Act 848, 2012 which makes human or migrant smuggling a criminal offence. Under the new law, a person who engages in migrant smuggling commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than 625 penalty units and not more than 1250 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years or both. The forum which is being spearheaded by the Public Affairs Department of GIS is part of a nationwide campaign to bring insight to illegal migration, human smuggling or trafficking and proper travelling procedures abroad. The campaign involves radio discussions and interviews as well as interaction to two senior high schools in every region. The students are targeted because according to the Head of Public Affairs, GIS, Assistant Controller of Immigration (ACI), Francis Palmdeti, they are most vulnerable and best way of diffusing the message throughout the country. Mr Appiah who left school to seek greener pastures abroad narrated his horrifying experience of going through unapproved routes through the Sahara Desert to Libya and beyond and counselled the youth to learn from his experience. A victim of human trafficking, Monica Aba Tawiah noted that human trafficking does not only pertain to children but adults as well. Narrating another horrifying tale, she said she was swindled by one pastor who assured her of a better life abroad. She paid GH₵5,000 to the pastor’s accomplices only to be sold into “pure slavery.” She said she was initially assured of a job in Bahrain but ended up in Kuwait where she was sold to her owner for two years to work as a maidservant in a flat. She said “I was more than a house help ..I was a slave…my documents were seized and barred from communicating to anyone… interestingly, I was not the only victim.” Aba said that she was given only two clothes to wear all year round and made to eat leftovers as she worked virtually 24 hours a day. “You dare not rest,” she stressed. She noted that had it not been for God who intervened, she was sure she would have been dead. She also commended the GIS for coming to her aid and some other girls. ACI Palmdeti noted that the GIS with the support of organizations like the European Union had trained a sizeable number of officers both locally and internationally on detecting, arresting and prosecuting migrant smugglers. That notwithstanding, he encouraged the students that travelling was a good thing because it brings exposure, experience and knowledge, but it must be done rightly to save lives and the future. He assured that public that the doors of the GIS were always opened in all the regions to give all necessary assistance and information on travelling to ensure the right things were done. “Don’t deal with connection men, it is dangerous,” he warned.