Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey — Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration

Government has announced it has begun engagements to facilitate the immediate evacuation of Ghanaians in Ukraine to neighbouring countries.

The engagements, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, is through its Mission in Berne, Switzerland and the Honorary Consulate in Ukraine.

The ministry, in a statement, assured it is in touch with the Ghanaian students in Ukraine through their leaders.

“Following the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, it had become challenging to airlift our compatriots from Kyiv and other parts of the country. Hence, the only viable means of evacuation is by land to neighbouring countries such as Moldova, Belarus, Slovakia and Hungary,” the statement read.

The statement indicated a list of students caught up in the conflict has been compiled to facilitate the exercise, adding that plans are far advanced to evacuate them.

“Discussions with the authorities in Switzerland, Turkey, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to assist with the smooth evacuation of Ghanaians in Ukraine are far advanced,” it added.

The Ministry has further assured the relevant Ghanaian diplomatic missions and Honorary Consuls are on standby to facilitate the passage of students who had already commenced their journey by road to Romania and Hungary.

“The Government has put in place the necessary package to facilitate the transportation, accommodation, feeding, medical support etc., to ease the burden on our compatriots.

“As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration continues to engage with other stakeholders such as the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, the Security Services and other State Institutions, we urge our compatriots to remain calm as measures are finalised for their imminent safe evacuation,” the statement detailed.