Govt commends NUGS-Ukraine
No Ghanaian has been affected by the Russian-Ukraine war
The government of Ghana can confirm that so far, there have been some 600 Ghanaian citizens living in Ukraine who have successfully crossed into neighbouring countries.
This, according to a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, is part of efforts by the government to get as many of its citizens out of the war-torn country as possible.
Ukraine has been under heavy arms attack from Russia in the last week, with many lives lost and thousands fleeing the former Soviet Union country, to safer zones across the country’s borders.
“Those in the other parts of the country have managed – at least we know records about nearly 600 Ghanaians have managed to cross over to the other neighbouring countries. In Sumy, we have about 91; that is what we have on record. It is also possible that there might be some of them who are not on our records but probably are also in the city, and who will take advantage when the opportunity comes,” he said.
Addressing some 24 returnees on Friday, March 4, 2022, at the Kotoka International Airport, he commended the Ukraine branch of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) for being a reliable source of data on Ghanaians in the country.
“In Kharkiv, we don’t know of any but again, there might be other Ghanaians in some of the other towns and cities that we don’t have records on. In fact, we are relying on the records of NUGS-Ukraine and it’s not every Ghanaian student who has registered with the NUGS-Ukraine, therefore, NUGS-Ukraine will find it difficult to have information on them.
“We have been collaborating with the NUGS-Ukraine very well and I have to thank them for what they have done. I also want to thank the governments of the neighbouring countries: Romania has done fantastically well, Poland stands tall over us, Slovakia has been there, Moldovia has been there, and then on Hungary. We have to be appreciative of the efforts they have done even to the extent that I’ll even say to the Russians that they have done well: so far, no Ghanaian has fallen victim to the war,” he added.
In all, there were 24 students who were brought back home on Friday, March 4, 2022: 16 via Qatar Airways and 8 via Turkish Airlines.
Evacuation is expected to continue until every Ghanaian willing to return home is brought back but in the meantime, he added that until Tuesday, March 8, 2022, returnees will keep coming into the country.
