Government taking measures to strengthen Border Management – Interior Chief Director

The Chief Director of the Ministry of the Interior, Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, has stated that the Government has taken significant measures to strengthen border management, including resourcing the Ghana Immigration Service and other border management agencies, to improve the management of the borders through intelligence gathering and cooperation with neighbouring countries. She made this statement at the Border Management and Community Engagement Roundtable in Accra.

The Chief Director asserted that although the borders are essential for trade, travel, and economic development, they also make Ghana vulnerable to transnational crime and terrorism. This has raised concerns in recent times over transnational criminal activities such as the smuggling of small arms and light weapons, narcotics, and human trafficking as well as the activities of non-state armed groups across Ghana’s borders. It is worth noting that the impact of these activities is first and directly felt at the border community level affecting especially the vulnerable in society such as women, children, and the aged among others.

According to her, Border management is an essential element in the maintenance and promotion of internal security and, as such, features prominently in Ghana’s National Migration Policy. Border management seeks to prevent irregular migration, human trafficking, smuggling, and other illicit activities as well as strengthen the capacity of government agencies on migration and national security for the management of mixed migration flows and to combat immigration crime.

She added that the government acknowledges that border communities remain a critical component in effectively managing our land borders. As such, building a relationship based, on mutual trust and cooperation between the border communities and the security agencies will ensure that both the borders and the communities around them remain secure.

The Roundtable Discussion on Border Management and Community Engagement was facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration.