Xenophobic Attacks: Mental Health Authority to provide psycho social support for Ghanaian returnees

Añadido: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The mental health authority says it will provide psychosocial support for Ghanaians repatriated from South Africa following a wave of protest against illegal immigrants in South African cities in recent weeks leading to fears there could be a resurgence in xenophobic violence in the country.

[00:00:17]Speaking on JoyNews desk ahead of the arrival of the first batch from South Africa, Chief Executive Officer for of Mental Health Authority Dr. Eugene Dordoye said his outfit will ensure that the the psychological well-being of the returnees.

[00:00:35]So, we will screen everybody. Okay? So, we will get people who probably this this may not even be their first time in life. So, probably they've experienced this before and they are okay.

[00:00:49]So, those who this may cause a a lasting mental health condition.

[00:00:55]So, when we screen them, you'll be able to tell or differentiate those who need help and what kind of help.

[00:01:05]So, what what authorities providing is a psychosocial support.

[00:01:12]And that there have been instances where people were brought down.

[00:01:17]I think that one person from Japan and had issues, but we realized on arrival that he actually had a mental health diagnosis.

[00:01:26]So, he is currently on treatment, I mean, by by the state.

[00:01:31]So, what we do is that we will screen all of them. We will tease out more or less every from the south.

[00:01:39]And then we manage each one like they are I mean, a patient coming to you. So, the most important thing now is to assess them or screen them to find who needs what kind of help. And and that's what probably I don't to add is to those who are watching here, Ghanaians.

[00:02:00]So, let's not make an already bad situation worse for them by telling saying things as if one Barbara, I mean or or you came with the I mean on that plane or or stuff like that. Let's not see them that way.

[00:02:18]I mean, nobody chose this kind of event to happen to them. It just happened to them, and the least we can do is to support them.

[00:02:27]As we say I mean, to wait if you cannot help or assist your in-law, don't steal from them.

[00:02:39]So, if these Ghanaians are coming back to us, they're coming back to their own land, to their own soil, and you don't have any support for them, please please do not make their situation worse by your comments and your stigmatization and stuff like that.

[00:02:57]These are people who chose I mean a path that was going to be great.

[00:03:04]Something has happened to them. They are back. They need the support of everybody.

[00:03:10]And security consultant Richard Commey Dor explains the processes leading to their reunion, especially with their families.

[00:03:18]Typically, there are about two to three or four things that will be done. And they've opened lines for people to register with the embassy.

[00:03:27]So, the embassy will coordinate all persons who are willing and capable and able to jump onto the plane when it is ready to come to Ghana. Once that database is assembled, they will go through what we call profiling. Just like Dr. Dedeo said, they will screen here. They are also screening them, but at that particular place, because it's about security you it's about immigration, we call it profiling. They will profile them into grouping and some of the groupings are that because these are individuals who went to South Africa and they were not government sent people. They want to find out whether they are students, whether they are consultants, whether they are business people, whether they have any criminal background, whether they are living in South Africa legally or they have their visas retrieved and many of those ones. It comes through that process. One of the things they will also be picking out is the the backgrounds of these people.

[00:04:25]Where did they come from in Ghana? Do they have families? Are they orphans?

[00:04:30]What have we need immediately? Once you fill that standardization form before you jump onto the plane to get to Ghana, it makes the Ghana authorities here aware of the type and kind and the nature and the status of the persons coming, whether some are sick or they are healthy or whether they are working in Ghana and they were transferred to South Africa and they find themselves in that vulnerable risk category. So, these are some of the things they look out for when you hear Ghana government talking about a database or when you hear the embassy talking about the database they have established for them. And it's also for re-entry purposes and because they are going to do it with the South Africa government so that the South Africa government will be aware that on this day so-so and so and so, these individuals have been airlifted from your country. And for impersonation purposes or for identity theft purposes, you do not have these people living in your country as at this particular time.

[00:05:29]So, these are some of the general outlook of what they are going to do at the end within the embassy and the Ghanaians who are willing to come and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[00:05:39]Well, my colleague Michelle visited the Accra International Airport earlier and sent in this update.

[00:05:46]We had expected that some Ghanaians coming from the South Africa are supposed to touch down. We are informed by the team with them that there is a slight delay. There was a slight delay in their departure.

[00:06:01]So, they are expected to touch down around 2:00 p.m. later this afternoon.

[00:06:06]We'll be monitoring that, but from what we know, all the this evacuation came into being because of the xenophobic attacks against Ghanaians and some other immigrants working with within the South African state. So, we understand that once they they touch down, there's a financial package that is being provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Ghanaians.

[00:06:33]There's also a transportation assistance that is going to be provided to them to their various destinations across the country. We also know that there's going to be a reintegration allowance for all these Ghanaians that are coming. Let me mention that this is actually the first batch of Ghanaians. That's the first 300 of Ghanaians coming from the South Africa who are going to touch down later this afternoon. Aside from the reintegration allowance, also they are expected to have free psychosocial support and entry into a special database for jobs and startup opportunity. So, all that is expected to be given to them once they touch down. That especially that's is for the first batch of Ghanaians who are going to touch down later in the afternoon. We expect that they come through Terminal 2 of [snorts] the Accra International Airport.

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