General News of Wednesday, 24 January 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-01-24
According to the Foreign Minister the two have been given refugee status to live in Ghana
The government says two former terror suspects are set to continue their stay in Ghana following the expiration of a two-year agreement with the US government.
Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey told Parliament, the two have been given refugee status and are therefore the responsibility of the Ghana government.
Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammed Salih Al-Dhuby, were sent to Ghana from the United States’ infamous Guantanamo Bay after President Obama moved to close down the detention centre.
A diplomatic agreement reached between the Mahama government and the US in January 2016 required Ghana to take a decision on their stay after two years.
There has been pressure from the opposition NDC and sections of the Ghanaian public for government’s decision on the matter.
The government had said it will soon take a decision. In parliament, 12 days after the expiration, the Foreign minister has briefed the MPs on government’s decision.
She said there was no discussion of an exit plan between Ghana and the US which meant that immediately the stay expired, the US government is not obliged to take them back.
“All obligations relating to the two suspects have now become the responsibility of Ghana”, she explained amidst murmurs from the MPs.
She said the Akufo-Addo government has found records that show that the two were granted Ghanaian refugee status in a letter dated July 23, 2016.
It meant the NDC government had already agreed to keep them in Ghana even before their two-year stay expired on January 6, 2018.
Ghana is a signatory to the UN convention of refugees and is required to protect them.