Ghana’s Deputy Ambassador to China, Dr. Charles Dwamena, has disclosed that an average of five Ghanaians are apprehended every week by the Chinese authorities for illegal employment and for overstaying in 2018.
Majority of those arrested were students.
Addressing Ghanaian students at the 2018 Afehyiapa Dinner organized by the Beijing Chapter of NUGS-China in Beijing, Dr. Dwamena, who was the Special Guest of Honor, advised the students to desist from engaging in any form of employment as it is illegal for students to work in China.
According to him, some students have had their education shortened because the Chinese authorities arrested them for teaching, deported and banned from entering China for a period making it impossible for them to complete their education.
According to him, per the Vienna Conventions, the Embassy cannot interfere with the procedures of the Chinese authorities once a Ghanaian is arrested for doing something illegal and ‘for us at the Embassy, it becomes a painful situation to watch a student who has put so many efforts in his or her studies get deported in the final year for illegally working’, he said.
He used the occasion to advise all students to desist from taking up any form of employment saying that “it doesn’t matter if your friends have been doing it for years without being caught, you do not know the day of reckoning for you so please play it safe and say no to illegal work in 2019.â€
He further disclosed that as a result of the fruitful discussions President Akufo-Addo had with his Chinese counterpart, the number of Chinese Government scholarship slots has been increased for Ghanaian students for the 2018/2019 academic year.
He also cautioned those who have overstayed their permits to take the necessary steps to regularize their stay as the Chinese authorities have intensified their efforts to flush out illegal immigrants.
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The President of the Beijing Chapter of NUGS-China, Mr. Ahmed Abdul Basit Sofo, thanked the Deputy Ambassador and the entire Embassy Staff for always coming to the aid of students in China and pledged that they would also use their influence to get students to stop the illegal activities.
Present at the event were the Head of Chancery, the 1st Secretary Consular and 1st Secretary Administration as well as over 95 Ghanaian students from various universities in Beijing.
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