USA puts visa restrictions on Ghana over lack of cooperation

The United States, on Thursday (local time), imposed visa restrictions on Ghana for a "lack of cooperation in accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States." "Ghana has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to accept the return of its nationals ordered removed from the United States," Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security, outlined. "As a result, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has ordered consular officers in Ghana to implement visa restrictions on certain categories of visa applicants. Without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population," a statement released by the US Department of Homeland Security read.

"The sanctions will remain in place until the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies Secretary Pompeo that cooperation on removals has improved to an acceptable level," the statement added. Nielsen further called for the Ghanian government to cooperate with the United States and noted, "The United States routinely cooperates with foreign governments in documenting and accepting U.S. citizens when asked, as appropriate, as do the majority of countries in the world, but Ghana has failed to do so in this case. We hope the Ghanaian government will work with us to reconcile these deficiencies quickly."

(With inputs from agencies.)