“We’ll Evacuate Ghanaians In Libya" - Ablakwa

As the call on the government to repatriate Ghanaians in troubled Libya intensifies, a Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the repatriation cannot happen until government gets a fair idea of the number of Ghanaians living in Libya.

To this end, the government is currently collating data on the total number of Ghanaians there are in Libya. But as the collating is ongoing, Ghanaians in Libya are calling on the Government to as a matter of urgency evacuate them from that country for fear of their lives.

The worried Ghanaians in Libya say there has been heightened tension in the country after Muammar Al-Gaddafi declared that he will not step down till the last drop of his blood.

Currently, reports put the death toll at about 300 since the protests against Muammar Al-Gaddafi's 42-year rule erupted last week.

However, speaking on the Big Bite Show on Xfm 95.1, a privately owned commercial radio station based in Accra, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa says since many Ghanaians go to Libya through illegal means, it has been difficult to gather statistics on them to expedite their repatriation.

“As of now, we are still collating the data on the total number of Ghanaians we have in Libya. A lot of Ghanaians get into Libya that they will enter in Europe eventually, so they are just transiting and so they do not get to the country legitimately. They do not inform the embassy and give their contact numbers to the embassy so we are now getting to know how many Ghanaians are in Libya, where they are, etc.”

“All options are opened; if we feel that we have managed to gather enough information on as many Ghanaians as possible and the crisis does not improve, we will commence evacuation”.

In the meantime, Mr Ablakwa is assuring Ghanaians with relations in Libya not to worry as the government is doing all within its means to ensure the safety of their relations.

“We owe a duty of care to every Ghanaian regardless of how they got to Libya and we are doing our best to collate enough information and then we would consider the options of evacuation; either we use a ship or aircraft”.

He says the government of Ghana is also in constant contact with the Libyan Ambassador in Ghana, adding, “we have sent a strict message to him that the government would hold them accountable if Ghanaians are brutalized or killed. We have also indicated our preparedness to do everything within our means to get Ghanaians out of Libya”.

But until help finally comes, Mr Ablakwa is warning Ghanaians in Libya to stay indoors and not be engulfed in the fracas.

“We are very worried about this development and we have asked that Ghanaians should stay indoors; they should not come out. They should not get too frightened and too desperate. Help is on the way, we are going to make sure that all that we can do, we will do to finally get them out of the rather messy situation.”