Twenty Burkinabes, who entered Ghana through unapproved routes at Hamile in the Upper West Region last Friday and Saturday have been arrested and repatriated by personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
The illegal migrants were travelling to the Savannah and Ashanti regions respectively for economic activities.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times at Wa, the Regional Public Relations Officer for the GIS, Immigration Control Officer (ICO) Ibn Yussif Duranah Abdul-Mumin Seidu, said the personnel last Friday arrested five males and four females aged between 18 and 36, who entered the region on unregistered motorbikes.
He stated that the other 11 migrants who were aged between 18 and 34 were also apprehended on motorbikes last Saturday.
“The migrants have since been repatriated after they were made to undergo thorough health screening at the Hamile border,” he stated.
ICO Seidu said the illegal migrants had adopted new strategies aimed at outwitting the GIS personnel, but indicated that the personnel would continue to enhance its patrol strategies to ensure that such migrants were prevented from entering the region until the borders of the country were officially opened.
“Aside the known unapproved routes, the migrants have created their own routes and have recently adopted the use of motorbikes rather than vehicles to avoid apprehension, but we have also stepped up our vigilance to ensure that we identify them for repatriation,” he stated.
He appealed to residents along the unapproved routes to collaborate with the GIS to safeguard the borders of the country from illegal migrants, in order to halt the spread of the corona virus (CODVID-19) infection.
Ghana closed its borders on March 22, 2020, following a directive by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA