Ghana Removed Over 3,000 Illegal Immigrants and Migrant Beggars in 2025, Minister Reveals

• Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed disclosed the figures at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, August 24, 2026
• Ghana Immigration Service removed 2,281 migrant beggars and 774 illegal immigrants linked to transnational organised crime throughout 2025
• Enforcement operations have continued into 2026, with hundreds more removed from the streets of Accra and Kumasi by July

Ghana expelled more than 3,000 foreign nationals in 2025, comprising migrant beggars and illegal immigrants tied to transnational organised crime, Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed has revealed.

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, 24 August 2026, the minister confirmed that the Ghana Immigration Service removed 2,281 migrant beggars and a further 774 illegal immigrants involved in cross-border criminal activity over the course of last year.

The enforcement drive has carried into the current year. Between January and July 2026, the Ghana Immigration Service removed 960 migrant beggars from the streets of Accra and Kumasi, along with 186 additional illegal immigrants.

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Muntaka told the accountability forum that authorities were conducting the removals with Ghana's international and regional obligations firmly in mind.

"We are pursuing this removal fully conscious of Ghana's obligation under the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement of persons as well as the diplomatic relations and long-standing ties we and other countries have," he said.

He also outlined the government's stated objective: "Our objective is to reduce irregular migration and unlawful activities associated with it to the barest minimum, while ensuring that enforcement actions are lawful, undertaken by the appropriate authorities and carried out in a manner that is respectful of human dignity."

Muntaka pushed back against suggestions that the government lacked the resolve to address the issue, directing attention instead towards operational limitations within the immigration system.

"Let me be clear that the challenge before us is not a lack of political will, security, intelligence or leadership. It is principally a question of skill," he said.

Government plan to cater for street kids

In 2024, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection launched a five-year strategic plan for street-connected children and young persons.

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The plan aims to address the multifaceted challenges faced by street-connected children and young persons through a comprehensive rehabilitation approach.

The ministry has had similar operations like “Operation Go Back to School” and “Operation Get Off the Streets for a Better Life,” which had minimal effect.

Source: YEN.com.gh