Immigration Service opens risk analysis cell to bolster intel gathering

Ghana has joined Niger to become the second country in Africa to host a Risk Analysis Cell (RAC) that will help in the effective gathering of intelligence and sharing of information on border security.

The cell, which was inaugurated at the headquarters of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in Accra on Tuesday, forms part of efforts under the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) project that includes setting up of RAC across eight designated African countries during a three-year period.

Other activities under AFIC include the development of a risk analysis training curricula and training of personnel from all participating countries.

The project is being financed by the European Union (EU) and also supervised by Frontex, an European border agency, which is helping beneficiary countries to collect, analyse and share information based on indicators such as passengers flow, refusals, travel facilitators and documents fraud.

During the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by representatives from various security apparatus and diplomatic communities, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Henry Quartey, who spoke on behalf of the sector minister, Ambrose Dery, indicated that lack of proper intelligence have often had what he called ‘devastating impact on countries.

The effective analysis of information, he said, was therefore important in projecting trends of migration and also predicting threats and vulnerable situation that may emerge out of irregular migration.

The Frontex Head of Third Country Analysis Sector, Roman Fantini explained that the decision to select Ghana to host RAC was based on the commitment of the country that has actively participated in programmes sanctioned by AFIC.

“Ghana has provided crucial inputs at all the stages of our development, and it regularly shares information,” he added.

The Head of Governance for EU Delegation to Ghana, Maria Luisa Troncoso also mentioned that the EU was always willing to support the government to address the root causes of illegal migration.

“At the national level, the EU has recently funded the Ghana Integrated Migration Management Approach.

“Currently, we are designing new projects, including a EUTF proposal on border management and the fight against human trafficking,” Ms Troncoso added