Nana Offie Asameni I, the Nkosuohene of Akwamu Traditional Area has called on the government and other related stakeholders to support put the right structures in place that will assist the youth to stay and work in Ghana to live a meaningful life.
According to him, Ghana has a lot which the youths can explore to earn a better living if the right measures are put in place rather than going overseas to seek greener pastures.
Adding that the idea of going overseas to seek greener pastures nowadays is not easy like it used to be.
Nana Offie Asameni I, said this at a workshop organized by Migrant Media Network on 23rd June in Accra to update the media on migration-related issues in the country.
A recent study published by Child Rights International indicates that about 55% of children in Ghana foresee migrating overseas.
The respondents cited jobs, education, and better standards of living elsewhere as the reasons for wanting to migrate from the country.
The survey focused on the expectations of some 11,288 children between the ages of 12 and 17 in all the 16 regions of Ghana.
About 48% of the sampled population represented females while 52% represented males.
“Nowadays the youths are not interested in staying or working in Ghana which is really bad for the country development. Everyone wants to migrant overseas or wants white colour jobs which we have lost all youths in artisans to Togolese, Beninois, Burkinabé, etc. Gone are those days in the 70s, 80s that these foreigners need us which one can go they and work but it’s not like that anymore that’s why you will see them now in our country. There are a lot of good opportunities in the country I will entreat the youths to explore these opportunities to earn a living”.
Though, he said, migration is good but must be done through the right channels.
He commended the Migrant Media Network for organising such a laudable programme to inform and educate the public on migration-related issues.
About Migrant Media Network
The Migrant Media Network (MMN) Project was founded in 2019 focusing on Ghana to tackle irregular migration through social media and community engagement. Initiated by the German-Berlin based organization Agency for Open Culture and Critical Agency for Open Culture and Critical Transformation, the project is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Peter Narh, Country Coordinator MMN-Ghana said since the launch of the project the local coordinators have organized community outreaches and a roundtable on migration choices and migration dynamics in the country.
“Ghana being among high-risk countries in the Sub-Saharan regions that highly emerged on irregular migration through the so-called Back-way route to Europe especially to Germany and the need to curb or find solutions to the high inflow migrants, the German Foreign Ministry decided to fund the MMN-Ghana project to create a platform around migration to help our potential migrants make right decisions,” he said.
So far, he said people in communities have gained knowledge on migration and accepted that not everything on social media is true.
He also announced that one can dial *920*45# for more information on migration-related issues.
