Removals or deportations of immigrants from their foreign destinations by various governments and security personnel has become a big topic which we must talk seriously about to find solution to help Ghanaians who would be involve in it.

Just last week or so, a news item posted on Peace F.M. website gave readers an idea of how the consecutive government in United Kingdom is bent on getting all illegal immigrants residing in the country out very soon.

According to the story, a computer data base has been launched to track down 150,000 illegal immigrants inBritainand deport them from that country which has raised much concern.

Using a computer data base to track down illegal immigrants the story explains will be checking all the facts about persons who traveled on each and every flight that landed in the country from a certain period that their visas covered and those with expired visas would be written to leave the country within 28 days all be arrested and deported.

This is not an issue to joke about at all. Seriously this is not a Kwaku Anase story to tell and share laughs at all but an issue to raise awareness in our Ghanaian communities where our leaders have to educate citizens and find ways and means to avoid the huge or massive arrests and deportations that will involve Ghanaians.

No body will like to condone and connive with illegal immigration because it is a big issue if you play joke with it as it can open your country to crooks, fraudsters, war crime suspects harden criminals and drug barons to live as their haven but run it down later.

No but look a what recently happened in Ghana where illegal immigrants from China managed to sneak into the country and before anyone could say jack, they were polluting all river bodies, destroying forests and even killing citizens for protesting against their illegal mining activities.

Ghanaians are not crooks, drug barons, harden criminals when they are residing in foreign countries as they work hard to live responsible lives. However due to the high influx of immigrants into particular foreign country in search of jobs and better living all the existing institutions are occupied creating joblessness and hardship conditions.

Therefore trying to control the situation, these foreign countries have decided to use ways and means to flush out all suspected persons living in the country without proper documents that authorizes their stay over there.

Now the question commonly being asked is who and who are going to be the victim of such exercise which no one knows but those who knows are aware they are in hot soup.

Then you will be right to ask what the government is doing to ensure that our people are alerted of this removal and deportation exercise which is currently going on in Europe andNorth America.

Alerting our people does no mean flagging them or advising would be suspects to go into hibernation or hiding from authorities who will be coming after them. Rather, making them aware of the grey areas and the need to avoid them in order not to be thrown behind the iron curtains and later out of the country.

Let me narrow it down to Canada where I am currently living and create? the fine picture of what is happening on the ground in terms of the government dealing with illegal immigrants.

The latest story that appeared in theTorontoSun of August 29, 2012 disclosed how a Nigerian crime victim advocate Kemi Omolulu-Olunloyo was arrested and deported out ofCanada. She was first arrested on August 17, by the Canada Boarder Services Agency following her failed refugee claim.

Aside that story, the paper again reported that a transgender Brazilian refugee claimant Silvani Marques was arrested by the same security service last week after he was called for an interview.

At the time of developing this piece, news came in from the Canada Broadcasting Corporation [CBC] radio that a former immigration officer who received 5,500 dollars cash for citizenship from Canadian newcomers George Gonsalves Barreiro, 55, would be sentenced on September 2.

Following this worrying news was the startling revelation made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] that it has charged 39 people in an alleged bogus-marriage immigration scam that helped North African men stay inCanadaillegally.

The RCMP described the ringleader Amadou Niang a bogus immigration consultant who would suggest that clients file false immigration requests to stay inCanadaafter visas expired and that there were 315 fake marriages involving more than 630 people.

Whew. I can hear you making that sound to express shock eh. That is what is going on that I am referring to creating the awareness so that Ghanaians living in the diaspora do not fall victim to such scams.

In previous articles about immigration, I pointed out clearly that if you enter the boarders ofAmericaillegally or that ofCanadaillegally, bear it at the back of your mind that they will be prepared to deport you or remove you from the country as it is the common word used inCanada.

Let the government ofGhanathrough the ministry of foreign affairs charge the high commissions, embassies as well as the consulates to start educating Ghanaians in their areas of service on the need to stay out of the immigration drag net.

Let us not ignore the issue of frustrations Ghanaians go through when migrated to other countries and the need to help them.

We must talk about this issue.


From: Stephen A.Quaye.


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