The Ghana Mission in the United States says it is expecting the US government to soon lift the visa restrictions placed on a section of Ghanaian travelers to that country.
Ghana’s envoy to the US, Ambassador Baffour Adjei-Bawuah, says the Mission has developed a robust mechanism to deal with illegal migration hence its expectation.
In February, the US imposed visa restrictions on Ghana for refusing to accept the deportation of 7,000 Ghanaians.
The Embassy has also limited the normal five-year validity period and a number of entries on Tourist and Business visas for all Ghanaian Executive and Legislative branch employees, their spouses and children under age 21, to single-entry visas valid for only one month.
Speaking on Face to Face on Citi TV last night, Amb. Adjei-Bawuah indicated that the system developed by Ghana is one that the US may ask other nations to emulate soon.
“We at the embassy have knowledge to develop the kind of approach which should make it possible for the US to lift the sanction that they [have] put on us and I do believe that the US will recognize this and do what is right and proper.”
The US government in a statement announcing the restrictions earlier this year warned that the sanction may be extended to the wider population.
“Without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population. The sanctions will remain in place until the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies Secretary Pompeo that cooperation on removals has improved to an acceptable level.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in a previous interview, said Ghana was still engaging the US government over the matter as its initial checks indicate that the majority of those claimed to be Ghanaians are not Ghanaians.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
