Story: Mary Ankrah
THE government has been advised to set up a National Commission on Migration to regulate activities and issues pertaining to Ghanaians living outside the country.
The commission is expected to help in the implementation of the impending national policy on migration and other regulations as well as promote the benefits and also minimise the cost of internal and international migration through illegal means with the rights of migrants who are well respected to ensure socio-economic development.
In addition, it would ensure that all Ghanaian associations abroad are properly registered and would find ways of registering not only regular migrants but also irregular migrants to enable the country have an informed database of its citizens living outside so that the government could make decisions that would positively affect their lives.
Prof. Stephen O. Kwankye of the Centre for Migration Studies in the University of Ghana gave the advice at the opening of a three-day colloquium on Diaspora engagement project on the theme: “Linking the Ghanaian Diaspora to the development of Ghana,” in Accra.
The colloquium, which was organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ghana, sought to bring together Ghanaian Diaspora associations from five piloted countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States as well as officials and civil society organisations whose functions were related to Diasporan issues to discuss ways of strengthening their role in the development of the country.
It formed part of a pilot project executed by the IOM-Ghana in conjunction with the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Interior, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) which was started in the five piloted countries to strengthen the linkage of the Ghanaian Diaspora to contribute towards the country’s socio-economic development.
The specific interventions planned under the project include a profiling of Ghanaian Diaspora groups in the target countries; holding of dialogue between the government and the Diaspora; the establishment of a national Diaspora support unit, and the creation of a Diasporan database and website while focusing on policy issues, incentives, processes and regulations associated with social and economic investment in the country.
It was anticipated that the project would serve as a platform for facilitating the engagement of the country’s emigrants in sustainable development.
Making a presentation on the national policy for migrations at the opening of the colloquium, Prof. Kwankye indicated that in the long term, the government could create a whole ministry for migration with the commission being a department in that ministry which would facilitate the implementation of the impending national policy on migration.
“With the right policies, migration could offer opportunities and support development goal for the country and that could be achieved through leveraging remittances, harnessing of Diasporan resources, brain gain, labour migration, diversification of migration and student mobility”, he added.
He, therefore, recommended that while the government took prudent measures and innovation products that targeted issues of remittance costs, technological advances such as the use of mobile phones to broaden the reach of formal remittance, it should also establish financial institutions to support and attract the flow of remittances for development purpose.
However, he noted that despite the impact of migration on the state, there was no official policy or position on migration, stressing that there was the need for an institution to be mandated to address issues concerning migration as well as official data on migration to and from Ghana.
In a speech read on his behalf, the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Chris Kpodo, said Ghanaians abroad now accounted for a substantial portion of the country’s foreign exchange. He said remittances and investments made by returning Ghanaians in the field of education, banking, health and trade among other activities were impressive and significant.
He said the government had renewed more proactively its focus on economic diplomacy dictates to explore more innovative initiatives to engage compatriots overseas in the development agenda.
“The days of paying marginal attention to the Diaspora are over - as their contributions cannot be overemphasised,” he stressed.
Mr Kpodo also emphasised that while the government was taking steps to issue biometric passports to Ghanaians in foreign lands, other creative measures were being examined to enhance the national capacity to cater for the needs of families of Ghanaians who might fall in distress or die oversees.
He gave the assurance that the government was ready to support the Electoral Commission to implement the impeding ROPAA law to enable Ghanaians abroad to vote during elections.
He advised migrants to be law-abiding in their countries of sojourn and would-be migrants to refrain from using illegal routes and fake travelling documents.
“Ghanaians must be wary of the activities of visa and travel document fraudsters and human traffickers who promise people greener pastures outside,” he cautioned.
For her part, the Chief of Mission for IOM-Ghana, Ms Dyane Epstein, observed that about three million Ghanaians lived offshore, and the number presented a unique challenges in ensuring their continued interest and involvement in the country since they had become more established in their different locations and had attained overlapping identities and interests.
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