Tough screening at Ghana/Togo border

Aflao, April 19, GNA - Ghanaian border authorities at Aflao and their Togolese counterparts have begun screening travellers to their respective countries since Monday.

This has resulted in long queues as a result of the slow and rigorous processes travellers have to go through. Ms Elizabeth Baffoe, Comptroller in charge of immigration on the Ghana side, told the Ghana News Agency that the exercise was to sieve out any refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan who might attempt to enter both countries.

She said Ghana and Togo authorities agreed on the screening exercise following news of arrivals in Accra of some refugees from Sudan seeking asylum in Ghana.

Ms Baffoe said the impression that those refugees entered Ghana through the Aflao frontier was incorrect. "We are firm on the ground and say confidently that the refugees did not pass through Aflao", she said.

Some local people who deal mainly in cooked food complained of unfair treatment under the exercise, saying they should have been left out of the screening.