British High Commission donates vehicle to Immigration Service

By Patience Gbeze, GNA

Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - The British High Commission has donated a brand new Toyota Fortunner vehicle to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to aid its newly created specialised unit to combat visa fraud and related offences.

The Commission also donated other items including specialized laptops, fraud detection equipment, batons and handcuffs at a ceremony in Accra.

Mr Alistair Rushton, the Regional Capacity Building Manager at the Commission, speaking at the ceremony, pledged the Commission’s preparedness to support and contribute in building the capacity of officers of GIS in intelligence gathering and investigations targeted at fake travel documents, illegal acquisition of visas, human smuggling and trafficking, and activities of organised crime groups.

He said that the Commission has over the years organized capacity building programmes for officers of the GIS and recently, eight officers were trained to investigate organized crime.

 “The officers are highly skilled and very friendly, they can function and relate well with other sister security agencies, and I urge them to share intelligence with sister security agencies” he said. 

Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), expressed his appreciation to the Commission for the gesture and for its continuous support in building the capacity of officers of the specialised unit.

He said eight officers were identified and trained in digital forensic investigation, open source investigation, unarmed combat, document fraud detection and investigation into human smuggling and trafficking.

This, Mr Takyi said, has improved on work efficiency and enhanced the image of the Service.

He said recent developments on migration has made training a focal point of every country to enable them manage effectively to curb crimes.

He lauded the Commission for its readiness to put up an office accommodation at the Document Fraud Expertise Centre (DFEC) at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra for the specialized unit and expressed their gratitude for the support.  

Mr Rushton was accompanied by Emma Hardy, the First Secretary and Regional Manager of Africa for Immigration Enforcement International.

GNA

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