Immigration Service To Deal With Migrant Smuggling

By Fatima Adam
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has reiterated their preparedness to deal rigorously with smugglers and those who forge of documents which has become inevitable in recent times as they promise to work in a more comprehensive manner.

The issue of smuggling and forging of documents by indigenes and foreigners, according to the GIS, was becoming dominant, hence diminishing the country's national security before its neighboring countries.

Touching on how prepared the GIS was in dealing with fraudulent cases at the Document Fraud & Expertise Centre (DFEC), the Upper West Regional Commander of GIS, Mr. Laud Affrifah stated that an Integration Law (Act 848) had been passed by Parliament on the 27 th of June last year.

Act 848, according to Mr. Affrifah, who was speaking at a seminar dubbed -'Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking,' had given the GIS the mandate to take legal actions against persons found guilty of migrant smuggling.

Act 848 states: 'A person who engages in migrant smuggling commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than six hundred and twenty-five penalty units and not more than one thousand, two hundred and fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years or both'.

Adding that one penalty unit ranges from 'GH¢7, 500 -1, 500 depending on the gravity of the smuggling'.

He went on to say a person would be subjected to the above punishment if it is proven by the GIS official that the smuggler had offered  illegal residence or aided an overstay of migrants, facilitated the illegal entry of the migrant, and lastly if the smuggler did so for financial benefits.

Mr. Affrifah lamented that migrant smuggling has resulted to people's losing their lives, organs and maltreatment by their fellow human beings who wants to gain financial benefit. 'Some people are smuggled outside just to be killed for their organs such as the heart, kidney to be given to others'.

The Director of GIS, Dr. Peter Wiredu stated that migration for some reasons which he gave as; education, economic opportunities proliferation of languages just to mention the few had been the greatest driving force of human progress and development.

He also said the exploitation of the reasons by profit seeking individuals and criminals has over the years portrayed a darker side of the entire phenomenon.

'Smugglers and Traffickers have little or no regard for the lives of the people they smuggle. The expected financial gains are the ultimate motives and concerns'.

'Ghana is recognized as a country of origin, transit, and destination. Hence the need to take the issues of human smuggling and trafficking very seriously. Thankfully, the Immigration Amendment Act, 2012 (Act 848) has been passed to deal with criminals who engage in the business of smuggling humans across the borders and territorial boundaries of countries', he intoned.

Other ultra modern materials available to the GIS to help in conducting their duties diligently consist of a Regula Inspect 7 machine, Library room and the Server room.

The Regula Inspect 7 machine which cost an amount of €26000 is been use for detecting forge documents, cheques, fake currencies, DVLA certificates, among others.

This machine however had been described by officials of DFEC as efficient and effective in detecting fraudulent documents.

On the other hand, the server room has a Passport reader machine. The machine is having complete database features of all countries that make up the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which Ghana is a member.

For instance if a passport which features had been tempered with is inserted into the machine, the machine would mark the forged area with the color red.

The Library room on the other hand, is being used to store forged documents after which the necessary action will be applied. Document stored in the library ranges from counterfeits passport, fake passport, stolen passport and face substituted visas.