The British High Commission and the Ghana Immigration Service in collaboration with the Dean of Students’ Office, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi have organised a workshop dubbed ‘Sensitisation on Safe Migration’. The workshop took place at the Conference Room of the Great Hall. The conference aimed at enlightening and sensitising students on the safest methods and procedures of travelling abroad, especially to the United Kingdom (U.K).
The Guest Speaker for the programme was Mr. Charanpreet Singh Walia, Head of Migration Policy West Africa, British High Commission, Accra. In his presentation, he explained that most Ghanaians travelled abroad for many reasons: business, education, improved standard of living, tourism and many others. Unfortunately, most of these travellers suffered several misfortunes such as death, sex slavery, prostitution, starvation as well as domestic servitude. He added that more than 6000 lives had been lost this year through illegal migration, not to mention the well-known Lampedusa tragedies. Many of these deaths were caused as a result of illegal documents and unscrupulous activities of fraudsters commonly known as ‘connection men’ in the local parlance.
He emphasised that the British High Commission discouraged irregular migration activities and that they organised the workshop to help promote safe migration. He advised that freedom could not be bought therefore everyone should endeavour to use the appropriate procedures to be able to enjoy liberty in the U.K.
The manager of the British Council, Northern Ghana, Mr. Maxwell Osei also made a presentation explaining to the students why they should use the appropriate channel in their quest to study abroad. He explained that almost all the universities in the U.K were internationally recognized and their certificates enabled graduates to work everywhere in the world. Students who wished to study in the U.K therefore had to only find out if the selected schools were accredited to run the programmes of their choice.
Also at the conference was Mr. Thomas Agyei, Assistant Controller of Immigration. He stated that the Immigration Service derived its mandate from the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) and its derivative regulations, LI 1691 of 2001. This derivative regulation made the Service the only one responsible for controlling and regulating the activities of all visitors to the country. The Immigration Service provided work permits, residence permits and re-entry permits to all foreigners who requested them. These, he added, were the only permits which legally allowed foreigners to enjoy all the benefits of visitors to the country. He emphasised that the Immigration Service also educated and counseled their clients on how to acquire genuine travelling documents. He advised all students with the intention to travel abroad to visit any of their offices in the country. This he believed would help curb fraudulent activities of the so-called ‘connection men’ in the country.
The Dean of Students, Dr. K.O. Owusu-Daaku, who was the Chairman of the conference, expressed his profound gratitude to the delegations from the British High Commission, the British Council and the Ghana Immigration Service. He advised the students to learn to use the appropriate means of travelling outside the country and not to allow uneducated fraudsters to dupe and play on their intelligence. He assured the delegates that his office would help promote the sensitisation of safe migration among students through the new SMS Communication System.
Among the delegation was Mr. Bossman Ababio (Chief Superintendent for KNUST Police), Mr. Joseph Osei, an alumnus of KNUST and some Immigration personnel.
