{"id":407885,"date":"2018-03-08T14:30:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T14:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=407885"},"modified":"2018-03-08T14:30:32","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T14:30:32","slug":"relaxed-ecowas-policy-cause-influx-illegal-immigrants-gis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/relaxed-ecowas-policy-cause-influx-illegal-immigrants-gis\/","title":{"rendered":"Relaxed ECOWAS policy cause of influx of illegal immigrants &#8211; GIS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Ghana Immigration Service has blamed the influx of illegal immigrants into the country on relaxed requirements for movement across the borders of nations belonging to the\u00a0 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).<\/p>\n<p>The protocol of the regional bloc states that citizens of member states are allowed to enter any other ECOWAS country and stay there for up to 90 days without visas.<\/p>\n<p>[contextly_sidebar id=&#8221;Kv8Q4B59vQntTiSSmNDpYUxno414Gawe&#8221;]According to the Immigration Service\u2019s Head of Public Affairs, Superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, the lack of strict rules governing the movement of persons across the borders is hindering the ability of the governments of West African nations to effectively manage entry into their territories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not a question of a relaxed border. ECOWAS\u2019 protocol says that citizens of member states can enter without visas and stay for 90 days and are free to move within the country and do whatever they want to do. There\u2019s not enough restriction,\u201d Superintendent Amoako-Atta told <strong>Citi News<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>He intimated that the re-introduction of visa applications for entry into ECOWAS countries could help contain the numbers making their way across borders in West Africa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you were to apply for a visa, based on information provided on the form you can be denied or approved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>100 deported<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>His comments come a day after the GIS announced that it had <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/07\/gis-deports-100-illegal-african-immigrants\/\"><strong>deported a hundred<\/strong><\/a><\/span> illegal immigrants from various African countries.<\/p>\n<p>Based on some intelligence, the GIS embarked on swoops in some parts of Accra to apprehend nationals of other countries living in the country without the requisite documents.<\/p>\n<p>Superintendent Amoako-Atta said that the number is a significant rise from similar action in 2016 when 20 immigrants were deported and\u00a02017, which saw 58 people deported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe set up our intelligence gathering in some spots in the city and through that, we were able to make a lot of swoops leading to the arrest of mostly African migrants who were in the country and whose stay was in contravention of the immigration laws of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Immigration Service has said the deportations were in line with its\u00a0commitment to support other security agencies to fight crime in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The government has supported the service\u2019s operations with 50 multi-purpose motorcycles to help combat criminal activities at the country\u2019s borders and other entry points.<\/p>\n<p>The news of the deportation follows the surge in criminal activity in some parts of the country resulting in a number of arrests including the <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/03\/22-nigerians-one-ghanaian-arrested-for-cyber-crime\/\"><strong>detention\u00a0of 22 Nigerians<\/strong><\/a><\/span> for allegedly engaging in cyber-crime.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>By: Edwin Kwakofi\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ghana Immigration Service has blamed the influx of illegal immigrants into the country on relaxed requirements for movement across the borders of nations belonging to the\u00a0 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The protocol of the regional bloc states that citizens of member states are allowed to enter any other ECOWAS country and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":407467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[7447,3,771],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Relaxed ECOWAS policy cause of influx of illegal immigrants - GIS - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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The protocol of the regional bloc states that citizens of member states are allowed to enter any other ECOWAS country and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/relaxed-ecowas-policy-cause-influx-illegal-immigrants-gis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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