‘Enforce protocol on free movement

MEMBER countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been urged to enforce the protocol on free movement of citizens, if they wish to solve the problem of illegal migration of their nationals to Europe and North Africa.
It is estimated that 2,000 West African nationals leave their countries for destinations in Europe and North America annually, often through illegal routes, where some of them perish or end up with shattered dreams.
A World Bank report estimates that 70,000 of Africa’s most qualified people leave each year and the continent spends $4 billion to replace them with expatriate workers.
Many Ghanaians have migrated to other countries, especially in Europe and the Americas, through illegal channels. Some of them, including highly qualified professionals, often find themselves engaged in menial jobs in those countries.
But two civil society organisations, the West African Civil Society Forum (WASCOF) and the Open Society Initiative For West Africa (OSIWA) argue that the enforcement of regulations under the ECOWAS protocol would help solve the problem of young West Africans migrating illegally to Europe, North America, and other African destinations, “where the most inhuman treatment has been their lot”.
At a press conference in Accra, the two organisations identified some of the challenges to the enforcement of the protocol as the absence of adequate mechanisms to control the infiltration of criminals, drugs and small arms and lack of harmonisation between national laws and policies among member countries.
Others included inadequate road infrastructure linking member countries, high prevalence of illiteracy and poverty that placed populations in situations in which travel documents, including birth certificates, were of little importance, the absence of mechanisms for the settlement of complaints of harassment and abuse of human rights of citizens by agents of member states.
Consequently, they said many West African migrants left their home countries without proper documents and enter host countries illegally.
A member of WASCOF, Ms Bashiratu Kamal, expressed regret that the “system of harmonised immigration and emigration documents envisaged by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in 1992 has not been implemented anywhere, yet at regional level, there is no ECOWAS Summit without an express will to plant the seed of what could be called a borderless West Africa”.
She complained that while members were enjoined to establish national committees to monitor the enforcement of the provision contained in the Protocol, travelling within West Africa was still one of the most painful experiences for community citizens.
Ms Kamal asserted that though many decisions had been taken to reduce the minimum requirements by which a citizen of a member country could enter another member country, those decisions had not yet filtered down to border posts, airports, immigration and customs points.
Mrs Susan Naa Sekyere, the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), urged security agencies charged with ensuring the free movement of people and goods to sit up.
She said there was much talk about Ghana being the gateway to West Africa when there was no free movement within the region.
Mrs Sekyere recounted situations where tomato sellers in the country had to go through hell in their efforts to import tomatoes from neighbouring countries into the country.
An Executive Member of WASCOF, Ms Getrude Adu Yebo, also urged the media to educate the public on their rights as citizens and what pertains in the ECOWAS Protocol.
She also recounted her experience while travelling from Nigeria to Ghana and had to pay exorbitant charges just to cross the borders.
According to her, she reported the conduct of the security agents when she returned to Ghana and she was told by officials that the agents were doing their job.