Abandoned Ghanaian Students In Wuhan Beg To Be Evacuated Over Coronavirus

Ghanaians in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China are pleading with the government to evacuate them as they steadily run out of food and other necessities needed to cope with the deadly outbreak.

Their pleas have mainly come in the form of amateur audio and video recordings that they have posted on social media in desperation as part of distress calls to the government which they say has so far ignored them.

In some of the audio and video clips, the stranded Ghanaians, most of whom are students are heard talking about how Wuhan has now become a haunted place and a ghost town because the infection rate and death toll from the disease keeps increasing.

They also talk of how Ghc40,000 that government sent them about a weak ago is fast running out because the money is not enough to help fund the needs for some 300 Ghanaian students in Wuhan alone to use least two nose masks a day as part of sanitary measures.

“We know that when we are evacuated to Ghana, we will not be allowed to integrate immediately into society, we know we will be quarantined. We are prepared for this and actually insist that we be treated this way. All we ask for is that our country does not forget us here, please,” one desperate audio clip captured.

In addition to dwindling opportunities to access sanitary facilities, the students also warn that they are running out of food and may have to starve to death if they are not evacuated as soon as possible. Wuhan is on lockdown.

The Minority spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has since accused the Akufo-Addo government of callousness, saying the government is probably the only one not evacuating Ghanaian citizens from China.

“There can be no justification for the continuous neglect of our nationals by the Akufo-Addo government, particularly when you consider the fact that on the continent, there are so many worthy examples from countries such as Morocco, Egypt Algeria, Libya, can you imagine Libya which going through a lot of challenges currently with multiple governments, a lot of instability, Libya has set a worthy example ahead of Ghana. Mauritania, Kenya Tunisia, have all evacuated their nationals. Am not talking about the rich nations which have already evacuated, I am talking of African countries.

“There are poorer countries like Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, who have all moved in to evacuate their nationals,” Hon. Ablakwa who is also MP for North Tongu said.

In response, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Hon. Frank Annor Dompreh, has said the reason the government has not kick-started evacuations is that the country has been caught unawares and unprepared by the outbreak.

According to him, the government is working frantically to set up proper quarantine facilities before it starts evacuation. According to him, he cannot give definite timelines but said the preparation will be completed soon.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has now risen to 600. More than 30,000 people have also been confirmed as having been infected in China.