Mr. Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, today held discussions with his counterpart Minister from Spain Mr. Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez, in Accra, during the latter’s working visit to Ghana.


The objective of the meeting was primarily to discuss the possibility of a cooperation agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Ghana in  the area of Security and Crime  Fighting and a convention on the transfer of sentenced persons between the two countries.

The focus of the agreement amongst others would be in respect of human trafficking, drug trafficking, organised crime, terrorism etc. 

Welcoming the delegation, Mr. Dery revealed that Spain has been of great support to the country in many spheres.

He cited the setting up of a document fraud centre at Ghana Immigration Service, capacity building for personnel of GIS and other security agencies and the provision of logistics to the Ghana Police Service as some of the benefits to have accrued to Ghana, and particularly to the Ministry of the Interior, from its relationships with the Kingdom of the Spanish.

He revealed that, Ghana like Spain is a source, destination and transit point for migrants and thus there was the need for collaboration in dealing with irregular migration and its associated problems.

To this end, the Minister lauded the Euro-Africa Dialogue on Migration and Development, otherwise known as the (Rabat Process), which was formed in 2006 during the surge of irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe. 

According to Mr. Dery, statistics available indicates that there has been significant reduction in irregular migration as a result of some of the measures the Rabat Process has adopted and was implementing. 

He, whilst commending the efforts of the Rabat Process, highlighted some key initiatives of government such as the one village one dam, planting for food and jobs, one village one dam, free SHS, Nations builders corps and promotion of private investments as ways of mitigating some of the causes of irregular migration.

He therefore called for direct foreign investments into the country. 

Mr. Ambrose Dery in his closing remarks, appealed for more assistance from the Kingdom in the field of intelligence sharing, provision of logistics, capacity building for personnel of the security agencies and border management.

Mr. Gomez on his part noted that irregular migration and its associated problems have direct implication on the security and stability of a country and therefore there was the need to properly manage it.

 
He disclosed that migration could have a positive impact on a county if it is regular and orderly.

To this end, he called for a more holistic approach in the fight against irregular migration, human trafficking, terrorism and other threats.


Mr. Gomez used the opportunity to laud His Excellency, President Akufo-Addo’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ initiative.

Mr. Gomez was accompanied by the Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, H. E Alicia Rico Perez del Pulgar.