It has also put in place measures to provide the security services with the essential logistics to enable them to operate efficiently and effectively.

 

The Minister of the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, who made this known at an international conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Centre for Migration 

Studies (CMS), University of Ghana, in Accra last Thursday, did not give the numbers to be recruited but indicated that the move would ensure that citizens and their properties received the best of protection.

 

Sustainable development

 

The two-day conference on the theme: “Migration, security and sustainable development,” was to provide a platform for the presentation of papers on migration by both local and international participants.

 

Mr Dery said Ghana currently had a migration policy which, if operationalised, would help address the issue of irregular migration and other related issues which affected sustainable development.

 

He noted that the CMS had been very instrumental in shaping the migration environment in Ghana and had played a major role in the development of the national migration policy.

 

Freedom of movement

 

Mr Dery noted that Ghana was committed to the free movement of persons on the continent and had gone ahead, without prejudice to the security of the country, to implement a visa-on-arrival policy regime at a reduced fee for Africans.

 

“Inasmuch as Ghana is committed to free movement of persons, the security of the country is also of importance to the development and sustainability of the nation,” he said.

 

Mr Dery opined that the porous borders of Africa called for a standardised screening, registration and document issuance mechanism, which adhered to international standards and best practices.

 

Security for all

 

“To ensure the security of all, the Ghana Immigration Act has been passed to allow officers at the borders to acquire weapons to protect all persons,” he said.

 

A Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Charles Owiredu, said migration contributed in diverse ways to the socio-economic development of Ghana.

 

He commended the CMS for its efforts and collaboration in drafting the National Migration and Diaspora policies for the Ministry, adding that it marked the beginning of their engagement.

 

Governance frameworks

 

For his part, the Director of the centre, Dr Joseph Teye, said since its establishment, the centre had been contributing to the development of migration governance frameworks at the global level and had also collaborated with various international organisations to organise capacity-building programmes for public officials and social partners in West Africa.

 

He said migration had been increasingly securitised, especially by developed countries, in the wake of what was perceived as growing threats of terrorism and, in Africa, the link between migration and security manifested in identity, nationalism and citizenship crises.

 

A former Director, Social Development Policy Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Professor Tekyiwaa Manuh, urged Ghana to take active interest in the Global Compact and adopt it to make it become useful for the country.

 

She said: “Until we restructure the economy regionally and continentally, we’re not going to make any headway”.