Replace our expired passports - Ghanaian in China appeals

Ghanaians in China are calling on government to come to their aid and replace their expired passports as a matter of urgency.

According to them, life in China is not rosy at the moment the non-acquisition of documents (passport) to prove their legality is worsening the case.

In a video shared with GhanaWeb, a Ghanaian based in Beijing, Grace Tetteh, revealed that Ghana’s Embassy in China has failed to replace the expired passports of some citizens who had submitted applications for new ones and had paid for the required processes.

The embassy, according to her, informed them they couldn’t replace the passports due to the lockdown in the country.

“Some people’s passports have expired, and they applied for new ones at the embassy but were told they can’t get them because of the lockdown in Ghana. If you remain here with an expired passport, you’ll be deported after paying so much money so the embassy is not helping us,” she said in the video.

As several Africans in China, especially in the Guandong Province, have already been evicted from their homes, Grace Tetteh is bracing herself for the inevitable with her luggage packed, just in case it gets to her doorstep.

She also added her voice to calls for evacuation of Ghanaians in China noting that they are no longer welcome by the Chinese as they are blamed for new cases of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The white man thinks the black man is responsible for every negative thing. They now believe we are the cause of coronavirus so wherever we go, we are turned away.”

She further noted that they have learnt a lot and can help stem the spread of the virus in Ghana if brought back home.

Her pleas, like others, come after the Foreign Affairs Ministry assured that the Chinese government has reached an agreement with the leadership of African countries in China to end the ill-treatment meted out to Africans in the country.