The participants in a pose after the meeting.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has stated that fewer Ghanaians are now embarking on perilous journeys through the Saharan desert to seek economic opportunities in Europe and the Americas.
It explained that Ghanaians’ migration across the desert and Mediterranean Sea to Europe stood at 797 as at July last year stressing that figure represents a decrease from 5,756 in 2016 and 4,046 in 2017 respectively.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of The Interior, Mrs Adelaide Anno-Kumi, made these known during the Ghana-European Union (EU) dialogue on migration held yesterday in Accra.
The day’s event which brought together participants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and the EU among others, discussed issues on migration in the country.
She said the decrease in the number of Ghanaian migrants over the period, was due to the government’s efforts in intensifying public education on such dangerous journeys.
The Chief Director said the government had initiated programmes such as the One Village One Dam, One District One Factory(1D1F), Planting for Food and Jobs, Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), recruitment into security services and free Senior High School and promoting of investment to prevent the youth from seeking so called greener pastures elsewhere.
Mrs Anno-Kumi called on the EU and its member states to strengthen commitment to scale up intervention in the root causes and legal migration and mobility.
‘’We recognise the national competencies of EU member states in this area and call upon them to coordinate and cooperate with the states to put the necessary measures to open legal pathways for migration through reasonable visa regimes,” she added.
Mrs. Anno-Kumi said to effectively tackle the phenomenon, there was the need to engage in political dialogue and technical cooperation to stem the flow of illegal migration and to create sustainable and resilient societies in Africa and Europe.
The head of EU delegation to Ghana, Mrs Diana Acconcia commended Ghana for the effort in instituting measures to stem the migration tide.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ambassador Albert Yankey urged the media to help in the sensitisation of the public especially the youth on the dangers of illegal migration.
He said the government was embarking on efforts to ensure that those who came back were not abandoned.
By Anita Nyarko-Yirenkyi
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