Embassies are embarrassing Ghanaians

A cross-section of visa applicants to most diplomatic missions in Ghana have rejected what they regard as the “shoddy treatment and disdain” they are subjected to before their documents are processed. They demand, therefore, that Ministry of Foreign Affairs to institute without delay, measures that would compel diplomatic missions to treat visa applicants with respect, especially because we are Ghanaians.

They particularly accused the Netherlands Embassy in Accra of being “anti-Ghanaian with a burning desire to mete out inhumane treatment to Ghanaian applicants.”

Major complaints apart from the rather tedious procedure applicants endure, include being sometimes such humiliation and contempt as refusal to seat guests they have themselves invited for scheduled interviews. Subsequently, applicants are made to queue outside the gates with some pouring on the streets and under temperatures that defy human endurance. “Now they make it look as though acquiring a visa to travel with is subject to some other body’s favour.” A devastated Dr. Kesse mirrored the frustrations of applicants who would not be alerted on whether they would be granted their visas or not while they undergo some very cumbersome processes that end in disappointment.

He told of how after obtaining the Netherlands Government scholarship to study in Holland, his wife was refused a visa to join him on holidays on the grounds that he was only a student and could therefore not cater for his wife. “That the Netherlands Government was able to spend thousands of euros on me but the Netherlands embassy would not grant a visa to my wife to pay me a short visit on the grounds that I was only a student is not only ridiculous but also unimaginable” he lamented. The most painful part according to the medical officer was that the wife was refused after the two of them had been subjected to a very traumatic investigation which involved his wife travelling from Kumasi to Accra (Netherlands Embassy) on countless number of occasions at her own expense while the husband lost a considerable portion of his study time. (He used the time filling voluminous application forms sent to him by the Dutch Immigration, all written in Dutch!)

Another applicant also contended that it was unethical to be subjected to all forms of investigation that in the end makes ones travelling plans no secret. “Gone are the days when travelling abroad was done secretly and privately. With the so-called legalization of birth certificate introduced by the Dutch and possibly other embassies, travelling can no longer be done privately especially when your stay will be longer than three months.” “In the past people travelled without even informing their family until they arrived at their destination. Under the present system not only you and your family are investigated but also almost anyone who has ever come into contact with you will be informed and interviewed about you.”

‘The investigation will involve anything from where one even attended primary school through the work place and even to the church where the person worships. Under such circumstances everybody hears about the intended travel. Is this ethical” he lamented. “I will not be surprised if in future the person’s photograph is placed in the national dailies for the public to give information concerning the applicant.” Percy Obakumah narrated how he was refused a visa to proceed to Canada to attend school after she had been admitted for a programme in a Canadian university. The refusal was based on what they insisted was a fake bank statement because money had been withdrawn from his accounts.

Not only was he refused a visa but also his passport was stamped and banned from travelling to Canada for two years. “The consular staff may have good reasons to refuse to grant visa to any applicant based not only on the information submitted but also on intuition as a result of previous bad encounters with people of similar circumstances. But good reasons will definitely have to give place to better. Sometimes it becomes mind-boggling as to why certain people are refused visas” she said. The bad treatment meted out to applicants to the Netherlands embassy was given a wide coverage recently when people protested for being left in the scorching sun when they wanted to submit their visa applications.

It is was recently reported that an MP suffered an embarrassment and contemptuous treatment at the hands of an arrogant consular official of the Netherlands Embassy in Accra when he was told that he could not possibly be an MP. The dumb-founded MP, thinking that perhaps the official was not serious about her remarks smiled, only to be told again by the woman, “sorry I cannot grant you the visa, a Member of Parliament does not smile when serious business is being discussed”. Not even the old passport of the MP, which he produced, indicating that he was a former Minister of State, could save him from humiliation.