Over 2,000 Ghanaian ladies stranded in Gulf States

Over 2,000 young ladies who migrated to the Gulf States of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon within the past five months to seek greener pastures have been left stranded.

Investigation by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has revealed that the young ladies were assisted by fake recruitment agencies who assured of them job opportunities in the hospitality industry with flexible working hours.

According to the GIS, the young ladies were subjected to sexual molestation and inhumane treatment.

“We are told a number of ladies have been in camps awaiting their relatives to procure tickets for their return to Ghana since their travel expenses to these states were borne by the job agencies in the listed countries,” it said.

It said over 350 of the ladies had managed to return to the country with harrowing stories about their journeys.

Whereas some of the ladies complained bitterly about how they were deceived into believing the grass was greener out there’, it said others complained of being starved and sexually abused.

The statement said the GIS, from September last year, had observed an unusually high number of young Ghanaian ladies traveling to Gulf States.

“It is difficult to prevent these ladies from departing Ghana, especially when they are adults and are in possession of the required travel documents. It is for this reason that we are appealing to the general public and prospective travelers to be wary of promises of lucrative job opportunities in these Gulf States,” a statement issued by GIS said “Members of the public are therefore being alerted to be wary when dealing with these recruitment agencies,” it said.

“Credible migration information could be sought from the Public Affairs Unit, Migration Information Bureau, Anti – Human Smuggling and Trafficking In Persons Unit of the GIS in Accra or any of the eleven (11) Immigration Regional Offices,” the statement said.