Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has announced that the 2 GITMO detainees have been granted refugee status and are now the responsibility of Ghana government.
According to her, the two former terror suspects are to continue their stay in Ghana following the expiration of a two-year agreement with the US government.
The GITMO detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, allegedly members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda were detained for 14 years at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
They were then moved to Ghana after President Obama moved to close down the detention centre, which is known to have had a questionable human rights record over the years.
Scores of Ghanaians including the then-opposition New Patriotic Party described the two as a security threat despite assurances by the US. 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.
However, the Foreign minister briefing parliament today 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 further revealed that the two were granted refugee status by the previous NDC government with the proof of a letter dated July 23, 2016.
Pressure from Minority and the Public to return the GITMO detainees
The minority in Parliament recently demanded that the agreement that permitted the two former detainees to stay in Ghana, expired on January 6, 2018, and as such, the agreement needed to be ratified.
The Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the then President John Mahama-led Government and the United States, and therefore, ordered that the Government sent the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the United States.
Some Ghanaians on social media have also called for the GITMO detainees to be sent back to the US as their time of stay in the country has expired.
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