The ministry claimed that the cohort of travelers included four members of Ghana’s parliament who were en route to the Annual International Cybersecurity Conference in Tel Aviv. The four politicians were allegedly only released after “more than five hours of strenuous diplomatic intervention.” The other three were deported on the next flight and have since returned to Ghana.
The justification Israel gave to Accra was that the Ghanaian embassy in Israel was being uncooperative; however, Accra called this “totally untenable.”
Ghana and Israel exchange deportations in diplomatic row
The statement added that “Ghana is considering immediate reciprocal action.” Shortly after came the announcement of the three Israelis.
However, after summoning officials from the Israeli embassy in Accra on Wednesday, the ministry announced that the two governments were able to “resolve the matter amicably.”
“Ghana deeply values our relations with all friendly countries and expects our citizens to be treated with dignity and respect in much the same way as other governments expect Ghana to treat their nationals.”
On Thursday, Ghanaian foreign minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa confirmed on Joy News radio that the deportation of Israelis was a form of retaliation, and not related to any wrongdoing on the part of the individuals themselves.
He also spoke of his conversation with the charge d’affaires of the Israeli embassy, who told him that all the Ghanaian citizens that were deported from Israel had actually been granted visas by him personally, and that none of them had violated the terms of these.
However, he retracted the previous statements that the cohort included members of parliament, saying they “were staff of the parliamentary service” set to attend the conference in Tel Aviv, but were not members of government. He confirmed the other three had been intended to go on a Christian pilgrimage in Israel.
“The Israeli authorities, through the attaché, have now apologized for the action they carried out and have called for de-escalation, because we made it clear that if they deported 10 Ghanaians, we will deport 10. 20, we’ll deport 20. 50 we’ll deport 50. We are not going to accept this,” said Okudzeto Ablakwa.
(j post)