[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson has expressed shock that Ghana has granted the two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees brought into the country about two years ago refugee status.
Speaking to journalists in Tamale, he disclosed that the US government was responsible for their upkeep for only two years which ended on January 6, 2018, saying what is now left is between the government of Ghana and the two.
“I did not know until this week that they have been granted a refugee status. That came as a much of a surprise to me as all of you. However that decision just gives them certain rights and if the government Ghana wishes to relocate them to a third country, they need to discuss that with the two refugees under the international law. We have no role in that and no objection to it. At this point we consider it as a matter between the government of Ghana and the two”, he said.
According to him, even though they were giving then stipends the US government had no idea they had been given refugee status indicating that the government did a thorough screening to be certain they were not terrorists.
The two Guantanamo Bay detainees Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby have been in Ghana for the last two years because of their refugee status.
The two Yemenis were resettled in Ghana in January 2016 following an agreement between the John Mahama government and the Barack Obama led-U.S. administration.
There have been calls for the two to be repatriated but Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey disclosed that government will, bring the agreement of their stay before parliament for ratification.
