Ghana has successfully evacuated 26 more of its nationals following tensions in war-torn Ukraine.
This brings to 74, the total number of citizens who have so far arrived in the country safely.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced that the evacuees arrived at 2pm on Saturday.
“The Government of Ghana received an additional 26 Ghanaian nationals at the Kotoka International Airport, bringing the total number of Ghanaians evacuated to seventy-four (74) as of 2:00 pm, 5th March 2022”, the Ministry indicated.
14 of the students arrived from Romania; 9 from the Czech Republic, and 3 from Slovakia.
The newly arrived students were received by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the Government’s spokesperson on Governance and Security, Mr. Palgrave Boakye-Danquah.
Spokesperson for the students, Mr. Akyen expressed appreciation on behalf of his colleagues to the Government for bringing them back home safely and offering them the needed support.
In a related development, the Ministry has revealed that some of the Ghanaian students studying in Ukraine have refused to be evacuated to Ghana, though government provided them with plane tickets.
The students are unwilling to come home and have opted to stay in Poland and other countries.
With the closure of Ukraine’s airspace, the options available to Ghanaians have been countries such as Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
But the government has expressed its willingness to evacuate all Ghanaian citizens in a coordinated manner.
We won’t be responsible for Ghanaian nationals declining evacuation – Gov’t
Meanwhile, government says it will not be responsible for Ghanaian nationals turning down evacuation from Ukraine to Ghana.
The Ministry, in a statement, said “the government will only evacuate Ghanaian nationals who are willing to avail themselves for the evacuation exercise.”
In a meeting with relatives of Ghanaian nationals in Ukraine, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor-Botchwey thus urged relatives of Ghanaians in and around Ukraine “to encourage them to take advantage of this evacuation exercise to return to Ghana.”
