An estimated 5,000 Ghanaians were among 15,106 irregular migrants who perished in the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to enter Europe between 2015 and 2017.

The International Organization on Migration says 13,976 Ghanaians arrived in Italy by sea over the period.

Collins Yeboah, Community Outreach officer, made the revelation in a presentation at a seminar on irregular migration for media personnel in Kumasi.

The seminar which was a collaborative initiative by the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) and Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) with support from the Italian government was to expose the media to the dangers of irregular migration and the need for public awareness to reduce the phenomenon.

The facilitator of the seminar, Professor Kwame Karikari pointed out a rise in political dictatorial tendencies targeted at Africans, Asians, and other Non-White exposes such migrants to danger.

“The racist dangers associated with immigration in Europe so that people will be aware of the larger political danger that confronts all Non-White, Non-European people because in Europe now, the rise of fascism that is the rise of political dictatorial tendencies are targeting Africans, Asians, and other Non-White populations. And our people should be aware that these are dangers that could affect their physical lives” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, President of GIBA, Andrew Danso Anninkora said the media have a critical role to play in concretising and protecting the citizens.

“We also feel that when it comes to matters of migration a lot of people do not even know that there is a right for them to migrate, they can migrate and using the appropriate channels to migrate.

“So one of the things we also realized is the fact that within our various programming that we’re undertaking in our various homes in terms of the broadcasting homes we are all skewing towards one direction.

“GIBA could lead in the direction of giving people things to talk about and especially the things that occur or are going on in our immediate environment,” he said.