THE COUNTRY Director of GIZ Ghana, Regina Bauerochse Barbosa, has called on members of the Ghanaian public, to cease the vilification of Ghanaians who come back to Ghana after spending many years abroad.
According to the Director, Ghanaians who have difficulty living abroad and return experience shame when they return to the country because they are perceived as failures or deportees.
She, therefore, called on traditional leaders, key opinion leaders and members of the Ghanaian community to create a welcoming environment for returned Ghanaians so as to enable their smooth reintegration into the Ghanaian society.
“It takes a community to properly reintegrate returned migrants. It takes a community to end stigmatisation. It takes a community to own and sustain the various community employment promotion interventions. When irregular migrants return, communities should welcome them and give them the opportunity to contribute to the development of their community.
“For returned migrants, a welcoming community is especially important. GIZ Ghana is part of the community and supports the socio-economic reintegration of returned migrants in Ghana. Through projects like the Ghanaian-German centre, we also help the Ghanaian government and its people to maximize the numerous development effects of migration, whilst mitigating the risks associated with it,” she stated.
Her statement was made at this year’s celebration of the International Migrants’ Day observed by the GIZ Team Migration and the International Organization for Migration of the UN (IOM) in Accra.
The celebration, themed, ‘It Takes A Community’, was marked with a symposium and an exhibition fair at the Accra International Conference Centre. The celebration sought to highlight the importance of community cohesion and team work to maximise the benefit of migration as well as finding sustainable solutions to the challenges associated with migration.
The exhibition fair, dubbed ‘Migration Solution 360’ presented a platform to 80 returned migrants and local populace, who are beneficiaries of GIZ to exhibit and market their products and services.
The fair also afforded the various implementing partners the opportunity to apprise the public of their services and present some of their beneficiaries.
BY Abigail Atinuke Seyram Adeyemi & Nafisatu Abdul Razak