July 14 – The Ghanaian government has dismissed the claims made by Ghanaian asylum seekers in Brazil that there is reason to flee the nation due to religious conflict.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Deputy Information Minister, stated in no uncertain terms that “no religious conflict is taking place in Ghana”, whilst proposing cooperation with the Brazilian authorities to investigate the matter. They have reportedly asked Brazil to deport the fans once their Visas have expired.
Reports were emerging that 200 Ghanaian fans who attended the world cup failed to board their post-elimination charter flight home. Some, instead, allegedly traveled some 1,200 miles to Caixas do Solis, which is believed to have employment opportunities available.
Noerci da Silva Melo, a federal police chief in the area, said, “The area is overcrowded”, which is perhaps why other Ghanaian fans were reported heading toward São Paulo and Santa Catarina in their quests to find work.
A further 1,000 were expected by the Brazilian police force, but Ghana’s Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga has doubted the credentials of these estimates.
The asylum-seeking group is said to come from a 650-person strong government-sponsored delegation, supposedly mostly supporters of the National Democratic Congress.
The city’s head of police said the Ghanaians that had visited the federal offices claimed they were Muslims “fleeing the violent conflicts between different Muslim groups”.
18% of the Ghanaian population is made up of Muslims, whilst 71% are Christian and 5% hold indigenous beliefs.
The Roman Catholic Church’s Migrant Support Centre is helping the asylum seekers by aiding them in the preparation of asylum requests and providing temporary shelter.
For refugees to apply for asylum in Brazil they must do so from within the country, since requests cannot be made at a Brazilian embassy. However, refugees can legally work within Brazil once they have filed for asylum.
These reports draw parallels to the 82 cases at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where athletes and staff sought to attain residence in the UK. 40 of these were granted refugee status. A comprehensive list of the nationalities of said persons have not been released because of the risk of identification. However, the vast majority was thought to be African (though the generally perceived peaceful Ghana was not specifically mentioned amongst these nations).
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