The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) says it has repatriated 925 undocumented migrants, mainly made up of West African nationals, following a recent crackdown on street beggars.
In a statement on May 19, the Immmigration authority said the repatriation happened on Saturday, May 18, 2025 after it had detained 2,241 persons from countries such as Nigeria, and Niger.
Of this number, a majority are Nigerians – about 2,073 of them, the GIS said. Other nationalities like Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali made up 138, 28, 1, and 1 respectively of detainees.
“The Special Operation will resume and continue in due course in the effort to raid the street of beggars and clamp down on criminal networks,” the GIS said in its statement, signaling that it intends to continue a sustained effort as street beggars appear to be a creeping problem.
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Under Ghana’s laws, street begging is considered a crime. It is upheld by more than a decade-old law known as the Beggars and Destitute Act of 1969.
“Any person found begging and any person wandering or placing himself in any premises or place for the purpose of begging may be arrested by a police officer without warrant and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty new cedis or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both,” section 2(1) of the law states.
Oftentimes, beggars on Ghana’s streets are accompanied by little children – an act that’s further generated another layer of the problem on the issue of street begging.
In 2022, Child Rights International, an NGO, sought to use the courts to make the government enforce children’s right to education and beat the threat posed by child streetism. However, that suit was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2024 on the grounds of lacking merit.