Passport Office donates equipment to Ghana Refugee Board

The Passport Office has donated decommissioned passport processing equipment valued at GH¢539,574 to the Ghana Refugee Board to support its humanitarian operations.

The items include four passport printers, four lamination machines, four Canon cameras, one Epson receipt printer and two signature pads.

The donation follows a request from the Ghana Refugee Board for equipment previously used by the Passport Office under Ghana’s former biometric passport system.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony on Friday in Accra, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the equipment was still in good condition but was no longer required following Ghana’s transition to chip-embedded passports that comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

“We do not see the Ghana Refugee Board as some distant, removed institution. They are very much a part of the work we do, and we see you as partners and very important stakeholders in the pursuit of our mandate,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa said the equipment had been tested by the Information Technology Department of the Passport Office and found to be functional.

He explained that rather than allowing the equipment to become obsolete, the Ministry decided to transfer it to an institution that needed it.

“It is one government, it is one nation, and we should be helping each other, particularly as the work that the Refugee Board does enhances our image as a nation,” he noted.

The Minister said Ghana had a long history of providing refuge to people fleeing conflict, political challenges and national disasters.

He cited the country’s support for Liberian refugees, many of whom lived at the Budumburam refugee camp for more than a decade before integrating into Ghanaian communities.

He said Ghana had also provided support to refugees from Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other countries, describing the country’s approach as consistent with the principles of Pan-Africanism and good neighbourliness.

Mr Ablakwa also called for greater support for the Ghana Refugee Board, noting that the institution operated with limited resources.

“I am on record in Parliament to have said that we need to increase your resources. I know that you work with a shoestring budget, and you are very much constrained,” he said.

He expressed hope that the donation would encourage other organisations and institutions to support the Board with financial and material resources to enable it to carry out its mandate.

The Secretary of the Ghana Refugee Board, Nana Asare Bediako, commended the minister and his team for their assistance and called for more support as the organisation faces financial difficulties as a result of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) financial cuts.

He said the Board would continue to do its best to ensure that refugees in Ghana received the support and services they needed.

Joyce Adwoa Animia Ocran, ISD