Kofi Kinaata leads campaign against irregular migration

Martin King Arthur popularly known as “Kofi Kinaata” has been appointed by IOM Ghana as the ambassador for the 'Safe Migration' campaign, which seeks to raise awareness on the dangers of irregular migration.

Many young Ghanaians risk their lives by travelling via road to certain Northern African countries and mostly maltreated with some of them outrageously sold as slaves, an act that was exposed by CNN some months back.

But the Tarkoradi-based artiste has been chosen to spearhead this campaign targeted at young people in the Western Region, the main areas of origin for Ghanaian returnees from Libya.

A song titled “No Place Like Home” released by the songwriter seeks to encourage the youth to be more careful and critical with such trips, which could put their lives at risk and further entreated them to travel through the approved routes.

Excerpts of a release by IOM Ghana reads: '' The Ghanaian rapper and songwriter was appointed the UN Migration Agency’s first Goodwill Ambassador in November 2017 to promote safe migration in Ghana.

As an Ambassador, through the song, but also through direct engagement with communities and youth, Kinaata will support the Agency’s awareness raising campaigns.

''As a Goodwill Ambassador on Safe Migration, Kofi Kinaata accompanied IOM Ghana staff, Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers and members of the European Union Delegation to Ghana to his alma mater, Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI) to speak to the students on the dangers of irregular migration and the importance of making informed decisions.

In 2016 alone, 5,636 Ghanaian migrants arrived in Italy by sea, an increase from 4,431 in 2015.

Most Ghanaians trying to reach Europe travel through Libya, where currently tens of thousands of the estimated 700,000 migrants living in the country suffer horrendous human rights abuses.

In June 2017, under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative on Migrant Protection and Re-integration in Ghana, IOM has supported the return of 496 Ghanaians from Libya, and is in the process of facilitating their re-integration in their communities of return.