The 500 were sent to the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates [UAE] by fake recruitment agencies for non existing jobs.

Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, however said government is collaborating with authorities in the UAE to repatriate them.

The Minister further indicated that government is working closely with the security agencies to arrest owners and managers of the fake recruitment agencies that only end up exploiting the desperate job seekers.

“As we speak 500 young Ghanaians have been left stranded in Dubai and do not know what to do. The security agencies are tracking  down these recruitment agencies as well as travel and tour companies who are doing this to these young people. These agencies manage to secure only tourism visas for these young people which expires after three months. They charge them between 8,000 and 15,000 cedis to secure them these visas.’’

‘Ban on labour export still in force’

Mustapha Hamid also reiterated that the ban on the export of labour to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is still in force, adding that government will do all it can to enforce the ban.

‘’Let me emphasize that the ban on the exportation of labour to the Gulf is still in force and the security agencies will not hesitate to apply it..’’

There have been several reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of Ghanaians who usually take up jobs as maids and nannies not only in the UAE, but other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Over 800 Ghanaians in Saudi Arabia return home

In 2017, about 800 Ghanaian migrants living in Saudi Arabia illegally turned themselves in at Ghana’s mission there to be deported.

This followed a three-month amnesty granted illegal residents by the Saudi government to leave or be sanctioned.

Over 500 Ghanaians to be repatriated from Saudi Arabia

The Ghana Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May 2017 appealed to Ghanaians living in Saudi Arabia without residency and work permits to take advantage of a package by the Embassy to return them to Ghana.

Ghana’s mission at the time said over 500 people applied voluntarily to be repatriated.

This was because Saudi Arabia announced a 90-day amnesty for persons living in that country illegally who wished to return to their countries of origin as part of the Kingdom’s “A Nation Without Illegal Expatriates” campaign.

Reversing illegal migration’

President Nana Akufo-Addo has vowed to reverse the trend of illegal migration by Ghanaians, by building a sound economy with opportunities for all.

In an address at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, the President stated that it was inappropriate for any Ghanaian to go through the life threatening ordeal of an immigrant.

“There have always been adventurous Ghanaians who would go out and try their luck in other parts of the world but the periods of economic collapse turned our country into places of wholesale emigration,” the President noted.