Ambassador Said Sinare
The Ghana Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has refuted the story carried by the Ghanaian Times Newspaper on March 16, 2016 to the effect that "500 Ghanaian women are languishing at a camp in Kuwait anxiously waiting to be brought back home."
The Embassy has stated that the story was false and does not exist.
The story which was attributed to the head of Migration Information Bureau at the Ghana Immigration Service, superintendent Mark Asamoah Boakye had been described as a false alarm with the potential of marring bilateral relations between Accra and Riyadh.
In a rejoinder issued by the Embassy and signed by the Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia "the Ghana Embassy in Riyadh, which is also in charge of the affairs and the general welfare of Ghanaians in Kuwait, wishes to state categorically and in no uncertain terms that the publication of the story is untrue and has no basis whatsoever."
The Rejoinder further stated that "the Ghana mission is shocked and scandalized at the publication and wishes to set the record straight on the matter."
According to Ambassador Said Sinare, he had visited Kuwait on more than three occasions to meet with the Ghanaian community to discuss and address some of the challenges they face.
He further indicated that the Consular officer at the Ghana Embassy in Riyadh had been in constant touch and communicates with both the Ghanaian community and the Kuwait authorities on daily basis.
The Ambassador said it could not have been true that there are currently about 500 Ghanaian women are languishing at a camp in Kuwait.
"The Ghana Embassy can state without any fear of contradiction that the story has no basis and therefore should be ignored by all right thinking members of the society.
Again, it is not true that any of the Ghanaian missions in the Gulf communicated such misleading information to superintendent Mark Asamoah Boakye. The Ambassador called on superintendent Boakye to either provide evidence of his allegations or withdraw same and apologise to the good people of Ghana," Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia said.
Ambassador Sinare further explained that the Ghana Mission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia acknowledged and recognised some of the issues and challenges affecting Ghanaian women working working in the Middle East as domestic workers.
He called on stakeholders involved in the matter to exercise good judgment and speak with facts and evidence.
He said, any exaggeration of the issues had the tendency of affecting bilateral relations both economic and political between the two countries.
It is worth noting that the Ghana government under the auspices of the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and the ministry of Employment and Labour are working closely with their GCC counterparts to address and iron out some of the challenges facing Ghanaian women working in that region.
Ghana Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alhaji Said Sinare has, therefore, appealed to all Ghanaians and stakeholders to always cross-check any information they come across with regards to the condition of Ghanaian workers in the GCC.
