Ghanaians face expulsion from China

HUNDREDS of Ghanaians who embarked on a journey to China to seek greener pastures by teaching English language in that country are in detention following the expiration of their visas.
Immigration authorities in China are said to have embarked on mass arrest of African nationals in China who do not have valid documents to warrant their continued stay in that country.
Following that development, hundreds of Africans, including Ghanaians, are said to be languishing in Chinese prisons.
A Ghanaian resident in China, Mr Andrews Antwi Agyei, told the Daily Graphic via telephone from his base that Ghanaians who travelled to China in search of greener pastures ended up stranded, while others were also arrested and incarcerated by the Chinese authorities for violating Chinese immigration laws.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, Dr Charles Brempong-Yeboah, in his reaction, told the Daily Graphic that the ministry had sent an urgent message regarding this development to Ghana’s mission in Beijing and was awaiting a response.
He said since China was a big country, it was difficult to ascertain the details of Ghanaians there because it was difficult to track the location of each Ghanaian resident there.
“But I can assure you that we are keenly following the matter to establish the facts,” Dr Brempong-Yeboah said.
In her reaction, the Consular Officer at the Chinese Embassy in Accra, Ms Lily Zhu, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that although the embassy had not officially received such a report regarding the case from China, foreigners who violated that country’s immigration laws were arrested for questioning.
She explained that many Africans, and Ghanaians for that matter, faced the problems of arrest when they had expired visas because they were thrown into jail without the needed assistance.
Explaining further, Ms Zhu noted that Ghanaians normally applied for either a business visa or tourist visa, which was not valid for more than 30 days and that in the event that a visa expired, the bearer, under Chinese immigration laws, needed to report to the local police station for an extension subject to a fine, to enable the person to return home.
But the consular stressed that some travellers were ignorant of such a procedure when their visas expire and, therefore, resorted to hiding for fear of being arrested by the police.
She added that for persons, who, during their stay in China, got jobs, the laws required them to ask their employers to apply for employment permits on their behalf to the Labour Bureau and the local municipal government to process the employment permit before they are issued working visas from the applicants’ home countries.
Ms Zhu identified language as one of the challenges foreigners faced in China, hence the difficulty in having the right things done.
She stressed the need for Ghanaians travelling to China not to allow their visas to expire but to apply for extension when they had short days left to avoid the embarrassment they normally encountered.
But Mr Agyei, who runs in Beijing non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as Concerned Citizens of Ghana Abroad and with the mandate of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Ghanaians in that country, explained that travellers needed to continuously regularise their stay in China, noting that it cost about $2000 to seek a one-year Chinese visa and wondered how Ghanaians there could raise such money in the face of difficulties in securing jobs in that country.
He said Ghanaian visitors to China were not issued with visas that exceeded 30 days and stressed that a daily fine of $750 was slapped on immigrants who failed to leave the country on or before the expiration of their visas.
Mr Agyei explained that 5,000 Chinese yuen ($750) was the amount required to obtain an exit visa and wondered how those stranded Ghanaians could possibly raise that money to return home.
He maintained that Ghanaians who were currently being detained could not possibly raise that kind of money to secure their release and subsequent deportation back home.
Mr Agyei indicated that detainees were only released after 90 days of arrest provided they could afford the fare back home.
He stated that through his NGO, he had, for his four-year stay in China, provided accommodation for stranded Ghanaians and added that he was currently accommodating some stranded Ghanaians who entered China in the hope of getting jobs.
According to him, the only job available to immigrants in China was to teach English and advised Ghanaians who had the intention of travelling to China to study to ensure that they had enough resources to finance their education instead of being deceived into thinking that other jobs were available.
He said most Ghanaians who travelled to China came on the pretext of studying Chinese but ended up doing something else and advised prospective travellers against people who deceived them into believing that China was a “paradise”.