Ghanaians are not stranded in China- Foreign Ministry

Accra, Oct. 7, GNA- Dr. Charles Brempong-Yeboah, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD on Tuesday denied media reports that 50 Ghanaian illegal immigrants, are languishing in Chinese detention camps.

"I just returned from an ECOWAS Meeting on Investment Opportunities and Business Co-operation and I took the opportunity to investigate the claim, which I found out to be untrue."

Dr Brempong-Yeboah, who was speaking to journalists in Accra, said he tasked a Consular Officer at the Ghanaian Mission in China, to investigate the story at the Guangzhou Municipal, Tianhai District and Guangzhou Third Detention camps, where only four Ghanaian detainees were found.

Dr Brempong-Yeboah explained that two of the detainees were being held for not possessing valid travelling documents and had since been supported by the Ghanaian community to return home. The remaining two are been held on charges of selling fake gold to Chinese businessmen.

Dr Brempong-Yeboah referred to a media report that claimed that 50 Ghanaians had perished in Libya, whilst attempting to cross from Libya to Italy.

He said painstaking investigations by the Ministry found out that the report was false.

"Another media claim was that Ghanaians had died on the desert." Dr Brempong-Yeboah said two years ago, six Ghanaians who described themselves as English teachers claimed they were stranded in China. He said investigations had revealed that although the International Immigration Organisation supported them to return home, they had since returned to China with fictitious documents.

Dr Brempong-Yeboah warned against the act and asked the media to educate would be travellers, on the need to acquire the necessary travelling documents and information about their destination. He said as the Fourth Realm of the Estate, journalists should do proper investigations before putting up banner headlines that tend to portray government as insensitive.