The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed the government is making all the necessary efforts in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates authorities to effect the evacuation of some stranded nationals back to Ghana.
Some 431 Ghanaian nationals made up of 341 males, 88 females and two children below three were reportedly detained in Dubai at the Al Tawadi Medical Centre and the Immigration Centre.
According to the Ministry, officers from the Ghana Consulate-General in Dubai visited the stranded compatriots at the detention centre and extended proximity consular assistance to them after their attention was drawn to the situation.
“From our investigations, it can be confirmed that most of our stranded compatriots were misled by unscrupulous agents who promised unavailable jobs in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates: the agents were paid significant sums to facilitate the entry of the prospective travellers into the UAE.”
“They only discovered that the jobs they were promised were non-existent.”
“This development of non-availability of job opportunities in Dubai has often placed our compatriots in a precarious condition, making them vulnerable and easy targets for arrest and detention by the law enforcement agencies in the UAE,” a statement from the Ministry said.
The Ghana Consulate-General, it said, is in touch with the host officials on the matter for the protection of the welfare of the detained individuals.
The government, the Ministry said, is putting in the needed measures to evacuate these stranded compatriots even though they went to the UAE of their own volition.
The Ministry cautioned prospective travellers to the Gulf Region to be mindful of the nefarious activities of unscrupulous agents.
In a related development, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Security are taking urgent action to deal with the activities of unnegotiated travel agencies.