The deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, says it is currently difficult to evacuate Ghanaians from Ukraine considering the degree of violence there.
The comment is in response to calls by some Ghanaians including the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu that government urgently evacuates Ghanaian students studying in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier asked Ghanaian Nationals residing in Ukraine to safely take shelter in the midst of the turmoil. This directive was after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a wide-Scale, pre-dawn attack against Ukraine on Thursday.
But Member of Parliament for North Tongu and ranking member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said government’s call for students to seek their own shelter in these petrifying circumstances cannot be considered helpful. He says government should expeditiously explore bilateral partnerships with countries already on the ground with superior logistics and advanced escape mechanisms to ensure the safety of Ghanaians in Ukraine.
Reacting to this concern on an Accra-based radio station, the deputy Foreign Affairs Minister indicated that the call for Ghanaians in Ukraine to safely take shelter is the only way of escape now.
“Currently, the government of Ukraine has closed its borders, and thus it is not easy for a country to say it is evacuating its nationals from the country. Considering the level of Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s airspace, it will not even be advisable to fly airplanes in Ukraine. Thus, if you realize, in order to keep its citizens safe, the Ukrainian government has built safety bunkers. That is where we have asked our students in Ukraine to seek refuge” he said.
According to Mr. Ampratwum Sarpong, government is still engaging the Ukrainian government to find possible ways the students can be immediately evacuated from Ukraine. Meanwhile, they are also considering moving some of them to Western Poland.
Mr. Sarpong is, however, optimistic the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will soon end considering the various concerns being raised by world leaders against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
