The United States Embassy in Ghana has assured citizens that the presence of the two former detainees from the Guantanamo prison, poses no threat to the security of the country.
Although the Embassy could not give details about their location, it confirmed that the two men have safely arrived in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”BgP9G5jtf6ZYKOdzYpJa8gB8UR2f6Bbe”]“The two detainees that were transferred to Ghana have already arrived…we don’t have access to the specifics of their whereabouts, you have to go to the government of Ghana for that,” Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Ghana, Daniel Fennell said.
Two Guantanamo bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby had been in detention for 14 years, after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
However, a US multi-agency review undertaken at the start of the President Obama administration decided both men posed minimal risk to national security and ought to be transferred. The two had chosen to be transferred to Ghana.
Meanwhile, some Ghanaians have criticized the decision by government to accept the detainees citing security concerns.
But speaking on Eyewitness News, Daniel Fennell said the move is to enable the detainees to be reintegrated into society.
“My understanding is that the individuals have been cleared, there have been background checks conducted by the various security agencies in the United States over the course of years. So our assessment currently is that these two people coming to Ghana do not pose a security threat. So the programme that Ghana will be bringing them through is a programme to allow them to be part of the society, to have community contact to have access to their families and to be reintegrated into the world, something Ghana is actually very good at and they have taken on board several refugees all at the same time.”
He assured that “they will be monitored and hosted in a very specific way but they will not be placed in prison facilities and they will be reintegrated for the purpose of resettlement.”
On Wednesday, the Ghanaian government also agreed to host other refugees from Rwanda, Syria and Yemen.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Government of Ghana was requested to assist in the resettlement of a number of persons from Rwanda and Yemen, taking cognizance of the grave humanitarian crises in the Middle East.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin