According to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), between 2012 and 2016, no Chinese miners were deported; instead, 966 of them were repatriated.
The head of public affairs for the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Supt Michael Amoako-Atta, said in an interview with Beatrice Adu on the Big Bulletin on Asaase 99.5, “When it comes to the removal of citizens from Ghana, especially in relation to illegal mining, we do not have deportation on our records.”
“We have repatriation of nationals involved in illegal mining and they are removed from the country [but] for deportation there’s nothing like that. [And] between 2012 and 2016 we had 966 Chinese nationals who were repatriated from Ghana…” Amoako Atta said.
In an interview with TV3, the former president John Mahama recalled how, to demonstrate his dedication to combating the problem, he did not hesitate to deport roughly 5,000 Chinese citizens who were involved in illicit mining while he was in office.
“When I was in office, I faced this same illegal gold mining [issue]. I deported almost 5,000 illegal Chinese miners. I didn’t say because of the good relations we have with Ghana; we should allow them to engage in this illicit activity. We collaborated with the Chinese embassy, and it didn’t destroy our relationship.”
His remarks are in response to the debates around Aisha Huang, the Chinese gala queen, and whether or not she was deported.
However, Amoako Atta said, “… But in 2013 the Ghana Immigration Service conducted a number of operations and around that time we had 4000 Chinese nationals who voluntarily asked to be returned to China. So they were not repatriated but [decided to go back] on their own because of the operations we were undertaking in the mining areas. So this is different from the 966 repatriations.”
In 2017, President Akufo-Addo jeopardized his presidency by vowing to combat the galamsey threat.
The President declared, “I have stated in Cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am publicly making this statement, that I am prepared to put my presidency on the line on this topic.
However, according to Mahama, President Akufo-Addo ought to have resigned by this point.
