It would've been chaotic if we had brought in all returnees at a go - Foreign Affairs Ministry

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has disclosed it had to start with the evacuation of Ghanaians in Kuwaiti because it was going to be chaotic if it had brought in all Ghanaian citizens from the various countries that had citizens willing to return home.

Addressing a press briefing the government’s updates on the COVID-19 fight, and Kuwaiti returnees the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Charles Owiredu said the number of Ghanaians who expressed interest in returning home was a lot hence the government could have brought all of them at a go.

He explained those who returned from Kuwaiti is the first in series of evacuations being done.

Mr. Owiredu disclosed the initial number expected from Kuwaiti was 245 however after they were counted, it turned out that they were 230.

He also indicated the government categorised the persons who had expressed interest in coming back home into three categories i.e students on government scholarship, persons who travelled on behalf of the government and individuals who went there on their own and are now destitute.

He said it was realised that some of these individuals were not in the capacity to pay for their flights back home because they were broke whereas they were others who expressed interest in paying for their own flight and cost for quarantine.

The 230 Ghanaians arrived in the country from Kuwait, in the first wave of evacuations of nationals stranded abroad as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

These were deportees found to have been illegally residing in that country.

The returnees were screened for COVID-19 and later sent into mandatory quarantine.