Dealing with illegal migration
Illegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Some countries have millions of illegal immigrants. Immigration, including illegal immigration, is overwhelmingly upward, from a poorer to a richer country.
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Illegal migration in Ghana has increasingly become extra-regional since the decline of Nigeria as a major destination for Ghanaian migrants in the 1980s. Although the majority of Ghanaian emigrants (71 per cent) still stay within West Africa, a growing proportion is migrating to a diverse range of countries outside the region.
According to 2008 Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates, Ghanaian migrants can be found in more than 33 countries around the world. After West African countries, the most important countries of destination for Ghanaian emigrants are the United States (7.3 per cent) and the United Kingdom (5.9 per cent) (DRC, 2007).
Estimates of the Ghanaian emigrant population range from 1.5 million to three million. Since the 1990s, skilled migration from Ghana, especially to developed countries in the North, has been accelerating. Ghana has the highest emigration rates for the highly skilled employees (46 per cent) in Western Africa.
In recent years, the movements have been directed towards Asia (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and some countries in the Middle East). The medical professions are particularly affected by emigration. It is estimated that more than 56 per cent of doctors and 24 per cent of nurses trained in Ghana are working abroad.
Although emigration has been increasing at a faster rate than immigration since 1990, Ghana continues to be an important country of destination.
According to recent census-based estimates, the migrant population, i.e. foreign-born population, still constitutes 7.6 per cent of Ghana’s total population in 2005. Net migration rate (per thousand persons) for 2000-2005 was positive at 0.1 compared to the -0.6 recorded in the previous five-year period (UNPD, 2008).
Immigration to Ghana
The majority of immigrants to Ghana come from Africa. In 2000, 58.9 per cent of non-Ghanaian residents were nationals from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries, while 23 per cent of immigrants came from African countries outside ECOWAS.
According to border statistics from the Ghana Immigration Services, Europeans constituted the largest group of non-African arrivals (15.3 per cent ), followed by North Americans (9.7per cent ), from 2000 to 2007.
Studies by labour researchers have revealed that the impact of migration on developing countries would continue to play a major role in determining their status.
Such studies also reveal that the effects of migration would make an impact on all parties, including migrant workers, businesses and entrepreneurs in the host country. Mr Haruna Iddrisu, a former Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, said this during a consultative seminar to assess the economic contribution of labour migration on Ghana. The seminar was aimed at identifying key stakeholders, research priorities and available data sources in Ghana and identifies the existing knowledge gaps.
We need to think beyond the formulaic mantras of the past. As a country, there is the need for a migration policy that gives clear and explicit direction on how the various issues affecting migration can be addressed.
Currently several initiatives to deal with specific migration issues are scattered in different government documents such as the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (GPRS II) without any proper coordination.
The state needs to collaborate with other research institutions to have an updated reliable data on migration, collaborate effectively with neighbouring countries to strengthen the securities at the border to control emigrants and immigrants who use unauthorised roots.
On the rights and working conditions of migrant workers, it is important for the state, as well as other stakeholders (CSOs, employers, trade unions etc.) to collaborate and address the seemingly challenging issues at the workplace.
Migration can positively affect economic development if properly managed. It is, therefore, necessary that the appropriate policy environment is created to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks of migration.
Properly managed migration should aid persons who have been forcibly displaced, prevent the exploitation of migrants, restrict illegal movements, and maintain mutually beneficial ties between those who have left and those who remained.
To this end, managing migration in Ghana will involve obtaining a more precise reading of the actual number of Ghanaian migrants overseas.
It is also vital to promote and strengthen the impact of migration both for countries of origin and transit, by making sure that migration policies are part of comprehensive global policies and strategies.
Donors and development organisations must work in a coordinated manner to support migration policies and related activities. Currently, these activities lack coordination, resulting in the duplication of efforts.
