The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has stepped up its efforts to clamp down on cross-border activity by illegal migrants to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In line with this renewed action, the service has arrested 148 migrants in Saboba in the Northern Region for entering Ghana illegally.
Reports suggest the illegal migrants, from neighbouring Togo, were on their way to the Volta Region when they were busted by GIS officials.
The Saboba district immigration officer, Emmanuel Boyan, who confirmed this news, said the migrants used an unapproved route to enter the country.
It is expected that they will be repatriated to their country of origin after screening and identification.
Many illegal routes
Reports say there are about 20 unapproved routes along the Ghana-Togo border alone, making it difficult for immigration and law-enforcement patrols to work effectively in the borderlands.
However, GIS officials have intensified their patrolling along the border in the Northern part of the country, where there are also many unapproved routes.
President Akufo-Addo’s announcement of the closure of Ghana’s borders on 21 March, immediately after the first few cases of COVID-19 were detected in this country, led to a surge in the use of unapproved routes in border areas by migrants.
In May this year, following enhanced border patrols, Ghana Immigration Service officials arrested 36 foreigners, caught using unapproved routes to enter or leave the country.
The individuals were from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger and Nigeria.
Fred Dzakpata
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