Tamale, July 02, GNA – BasicNeeds-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation focussing on mental health issues, has organised a dissemination workshop for relevant stakeholders to discuss the findings of a final report of its research into the mental health of returned migrants.
The day’s workshop was held in Tamale and participating institutions included the National Commission for Civic Education, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Ghana Police Service, Department for Community Development and Social Welfare, Northern Regional House of Chiefs among others.
The research, commissioned by DIGNITY-Danish Institute Against Torture in 2020, was conducted in Ghana and Liberia with the specific sites for the former being Greater Accra, Bono and Bono East Regions.
A total of 35 key stakeholders including returned migrants at national, regional, district and local community levels were purposively selected and interviewed.
Those regions, according to the report, were chosen because they constituted the hub for migrants in the country especially Accra being the intermediary destination for most migrants embarking on stepwise migration.
Thus, most would-be migrants first travelled out of their home regions into Greater Accra from where they set off for greener pastures abroad.
Hannan Tizaa Legend, Project Officer at BasicNeeds-Ghana, who presented the research report, cited the instability in Libya, increased human rights abuses in the Middle East and North Africa and economic challenges at migrants’ traditional destinations as factors compounding the mental health situation of ever-increasing returned migrants.
He also mentioned torture and organised violence on the journey as another factor impacting negatively on the mental health of returned migrants.
The report recommended among other things that the government should enhance the capacity of the Ghana Immigration Services and Ghana Statistical Services to collect, analyse and disseminate data on both voluntary and involuntary returned migrants and cases of mental health among returnees.
It also recommended that the state should work with development partners to create a special fund for mental health, adding “A special tax rate should be added to the VAT ( e.g. 1%) to be used to raise funds for mental health.”
It added that the Mental Health Act (Act 846 of 2012) should be revised to emphasise the need for mental health and psychosocial support.
Participants called for responsible parenting, massive awareness creation and counselling as measures for managing the negative impact of migration.
Kasuli-Lana Alhaji Yakubu Bukari, Chief of Kasuliyili, a town in the Tolon District of the Northern Region, commended BasicNeeds-Ghana for putting the research together saying the problem it aspired to solve was evidently real and needed urgent attention.
He pledged the support of traditional rulers in the region to ensure that the laudable initiative would yield positive results.
He also encouraged chiefs to donate lands for development projects such as the construction of the proposed Regional Mental Health Hospital.
GNA