Ablakwa urges Ghana-EU partnership to tackle human trafficking and irregular migration

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called on the European Union to implement its new migration pact humanely and work with Ghana to tackle irregular migration and human trafficking.

He made the call at the opening of the 2026 Ghana-EU Partnership Dialogue in Accra on Thursday, where migration emerged as one of the key issues discussed between Ghana and its European partners.

Mr Ablakwa said Ghana had closely studied the EU's new migration framework, which comes into effect this month, and was keenly interested in how it would be implemented.

"We are willing to work with the EU to address particularly irregular migration, but it is important that as we do that, we look at areas that we have a shared interest," he noted.

The minister said Ghana remained committed to promoting regular and legal migration while working with the EU to combat criminal networks involved in human trafficking.

"We want to have stronger laws, stronger enforcement to deal with human trafficking," he said.

Mr Ablakwa also reiterated Ghana's opposition to the recruitment of young Africans into foreign conflicts, stating that the country had publicly condemned attempts by some foreign actors to enlist African youth to fight wars outside the continent.

He said migration policies should protect vulnerable people while creating opportunities for cooperation between countries of origin and destination.

Beyond migration, the Minister urged Ghana and the EU to begin looking at broader continental priorities as Ghana prepares to assume the chairmanship of the African Union in February 2027.

According to him, discussions between Ghana and the EU should increasingly align with the wider Africa-Europe agenda ahead of the next AU-EU engagement.

He said that attention should not be limited to national priorities and that focus must also extend to the wider AU-EU partnership agenda.

On his part, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Rune Skinnebach, noted that Ghana had outperformed several targets under the IMF-supported Extended Credit Facility programme.

He said through its Global Gateway strategy, it is ready to finance strategic infrastructure and industrial projects, using blended finance and concessional packages. However, the EU urged the government to prioritise these initiatives and speed up approval processes.

On security, the EU confirmed that a new Security and Defence Partnership Agreement signed earlier this year by Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman and EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, was the first of its kind between the EU and an African country.

“Already the partnership delivers on our shared needs in terms of equipment, training, and programming, now adding up to well over €100 million,” he said.