Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor-Botchwey, has urged Ghanaians in Ukraine not to miss the chance of being evacuated from Ukraine.

This follows reports that some Ghanaians have refused evacuation from Ukraine after the government secured tickets for their flights to Ghana.

In a meeting with relatives of Ghanaian nationals in Ukraine on Tuesday, the Minister implored relatives of Ghanaians in and around Ukraine “to encourage them to take advantage of this evacuation exercise to return to Ghana.”

For the past few weeks, there have been concerns as to how the government would evacuate Ghanaians from the distressed country after Russia’s invasion.

The Ministry also disclosed that as of March 1, about 500 Ghanaians have been evacuated from Ukraine to neighbouring countries.

These countries include Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia.

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, announced this when he welcomed the first set of Ghanaians evacuated from Ukraine.

As part of measures to ensure all citizens arrive safely, government has liaised with Culture Airways and Turkish Airlines for their evacuation.

According to Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong, the two institutions have “agreed that any Ghanaian who has crossed to any of these countries where they do fly will be flown home within the next couple of days.”

The Deputy Minister assured that “the government has laid down plans to evacuate every student or Ghanaian who is prepared and ready to come home.”

On Tuesday morning, the first batch of Ghanaians who were evacuated from Ukraine arrived at the Kotoka International Airport.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry representative helping with the evacuation exercise, Dr. Albert Kitcher, said many of the students left stranded in Ukraine continue to arrive at the Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland borders.

“These are mostly students. For the non-students, I know some who have gone on their own. There are about four or five different steps that you take before you get to the border and then get on the plane. These people are leaving from the city of Lviv; so, they are in the territory of Ukraine.”

“As they are leaving, the person leading the bus is constantly in touch with me and some of the student leaders, and we’re coordinating as and when they are on the road.

“As they are going, we’re giving information to the Ghana Mission so that when the people arrive, they would be there to receive them,” he said.

Shirley Ayorkor-Botchwey in today’s meeting with relatives of Ghanaian nationals, said 49 Ghanaians, including one child, have moved to the Czech Republic, 25 Ghanaians are in Slovakia, 134 Ghanaians in Romania, 81 in Poland, and 221 in Hungary.

She disclosed that “Two other batches from Romania in different groups of 70 and 64, respectively, are expected to arrive later this week.”