Ghana: Government trying to evacuate near 10,000 Ghanaians from Libya

The Ghanaian government is taking steps to evacuate an estimated 10,000 nationals from Libya in view of the serious deterioration in the security situation in the country. On 25th February the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement announcing the establishment of an Evacuation Task Force comprising representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Information, the National Security Council, the National Disaster Management Organisation, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces.

Liaison offices have been set up on the Libya-Tunisia and Libya-Egypt borders in addition to the Ghana Embassy in Tripoli to process relevant documentation and other arrangements for the evacuation exercise. Reception centres have been set up at the El-Wak Stadium and the Trade Fair Centre in Accra to receive evacuees.

So far 60 Ghanaian nationals who have been evacuated from the Libya-Egyptian border, arriving safely back in Accra aboard an Air Egypt flight.

Protesters are said to be targeting sub-Saharan Africans, as dozens are now feared killed, while hundreds are in hiding. According to commentators, African migrant workers are targeted because they are suspected of being mercenaries hired by Muammar Qadhafi. Ghanaian construction worker Rashid Mohamed told a Time Magazine reporter, “They said that Qadhafi brought the black people to fight…so the Libyans, when they see the blacks, they will kill them.” There are still thousands of Ghanaians waiting to be evacuated from Libya. No Ghanaian has yet been reported dead in the political crisis.

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© 2011 Menas Associates