The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has planned to evacuate Ghanaians stranded in New York back to Accra on June 25, 2020.
They will be evacuated via an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
There will be a 14-day mandatory quarantine upon their arrival in Accra and the cost of the quarantine, as well as that of the flight, will be borne by the evacuees, who have already registered with the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations and the Consulate General of New York.
This was made known by the Consul General in New York in a notice dated Monday, June 15, 2020.
856 ‘stranded’ Ghanaians so far evacuated
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has disclosed that Ghana has so far evacuated a total of 856 stranded Ghanaians in various back to Ghana.
At a media briefing organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra, Tuesday morning [June 16, 2020], Ms. Botchwey said: “So far 856 Ghanaians have been assisted to come back home.”
She said this in an answer to a question on how many stranded Ghanaians have been evacuated to Ghana since the border closure as a result of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19),
She hinted that some Ghanaians who traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to seek greener pastures but have become stranded are also being evacuated.
According to the Minister, the first batch has arrived and the other batch of 250 are expected in Accra “today” [June 16, 2020].
“The people in Dubai were part of those brought back and another group are on their way as we speak. They are people who were found loitering because of the circumstances of how they live. In such places as Dubai, many of them worked as artisans, maidservants, or domestic workers. They live in dormitories and work in hotels as well and once your employers lose their job, they kick you out and those in such countries were kicked out so they were living anyhow,” she said.
