The number of Ghanaians who fled war-torn Ukraine for neighbouring countries such as Poland, Hungary and others as at yesterday, was four hundred and sixty.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, while updating the media about the state of Ghanaians in that country, she said “information gathered was that over four hundred and sixty (460) students had left Ukraine enroute to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Czech Republic.”
The students, she said, will be received by Ghanaian Diplomatic Missions, honorary consuls and officials of Ghana students’ associations.
Giving a breakdown of those who have exited as at yesterday, she said twenty four (24) had arrived in Bucharest, Romania “and our officer on the ground is procuring tickets for them to leave today en route to Accra.”
Forty eight (48), she added “are being processed at the holding area and another 60 going through border formalities.”
Thirty eight (38) who crossed into Poland “are with our officials. We are currently also making arrangements for those who are willing to be assisted to get on flights.”
Twenty five (25) persons, en route to Prague from Slovakia, the minister stated, “were assisted by the Honorary Consul and will be received on entry by the Mission in Prague.”
Twenty five (25) arrived yesterday morning in Hungary and were being sheltered at the Pentecostal Church in Budapest.
She disclosed that a week ago, when the situation was getting serious, an unknown number of students had already left for safety in neighbouring countries.
Border Crossing Challenge
The minister announced that eighty five Ghanaians who were being assisted by embassy officials in Moscow to cross the border town of Suny into Russia, had encountered “serious difficulties.”
As part of the evacuation plan, a list of Ghanaian students especially, has been prepared through their leadership in Ukraine, even as parents of the entrapped students have been engaged to update them about developments.
“The Ministry, through its Mission in Berne, Switzerland, and the Honorary Consulate in Ukraine, are in touch with the Ghanaian students in Ukraine through their leaders,” she said.
Even as the ministry laments the challenges the closure of the airspace of Ukraine has caused, government is nonetheless in discussion with authorities in Switzerland, Turkey, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to assist with the smooth evacuation of Ghanaians in Ukraine.
In furtherance of ensuring the safety of Ghanaian students in that country, she reiterated government’s commitment to evacuating trapped Ghanaians in Ukraine.
No Go Areas
She said that information available to her ministry suggests that “there are still three (3) cities in Ukraine where students cannot be evacuated from, due to the high risk situation identified there, as reported by our Honorary Consul.”
The cities, she said, are Kharkiv (hotspot on the way), Suny (hotspot on the way), and Dnipropetrovsk which has been locked down.
Another Challenge
Another challenge, which our compatriots are faced with, the minister said, “is the fear of crossing at borders close to Russia for obvious reasons. We had requested our diplomatic mission in Moscow to assist with their passage as it will be unreasonable and dangerous to now start looking for another border to access.”
Ghana, Ukraine
The minister mentioned the economic and trade exports between the two countries which she added “have been quite encouraging as major exports from Ghana include manganese, aluminium ore and cocoa powder, whereas major imports to Ghana from Ukraine included hot-rolled iron bars, raw iron bars and cold-rolled iron.”
She was quick to add however that, the current crisis is bound to affect, for now, any meaningful strategic outcomes.
Question Time
She told the media that no embassy can give the exact number of her citizens in a country because not all such persons make their details available to the mission. It is during such times that the importance of contacting the mission crops up.
Challenges
Coordinating evacuations in a vast country such as Ukraine with students and Ghanaians spread all over the country comes with difficulties, especially with restricted movement due to curfews, lockdowns etc, she said.
Engagement Russian Envoy
Officials of her outfit, she said “have held productive meetings with diplomats of the Russian and Turkish Embassies in Accra to discuss the pathway to an incident-free evacuation exercise. Both meetings resulted in an agreement to facilitate passage of our compatriots, should the need arise.”
The ministry, she pointed out, “has requested five European countries bordering Ukraine (Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) to facilitate easy passage into their countries by our compatriots. Fortunately, the Government of Moldova has officially indicated its willingness to facilitate the passage of foreign nationals based on a structured exercise.”
Parents
Steps, according to her, “are being taken to secure the contact numbers of parents or guardians of our students to enable the ministry engage them as we seek to ensure the safety of our compatriots and allay their fears.”
The minister could not have ended her briefing with a better note than “We are safe now!”
By A.R. Gomda