The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu has called on the government to take immediate steps to evacuate Ghanaian students from Ukraine.

Speaking to JoyNews' Kwesi Parker-Wilson on Thursday, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South stated that these steps should be taken to “assure the students and their parents that they are Ghanaians and they deserve our support.”

“I wanted to invoke order 72 to raise the matter of urgent public importance which is to call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finance to work together to take urgent steps to ensure the safety of Ghanaian students in Ukraine and to work towards the immediate evacuation of Ghanaian students leaving in Ukraine, Mr Speaker,” he said.

He noted that the happening in Ukraine now, is a matter of urgent public importance hence the call for evacuation.

According to him, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta must make money available to the Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey to begin with the evacuation process.

“We do know a number of Ghanaian students in Ukraine, quite a number studying medicine, probably some even sponsored by Members of Parliament. Mr. Speaker, the situation in Ukraine is very worrying. We won’t go into the Diplomatic matters related to Ukraine for now until we are guided by what Ghana’s foreign policy position will be on that matter,” he added.

On his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea also agreed with the Minority Leader’s call for evacuation. He wants the government to be swift in its approach.

 “In these circumstances, I would say that we don’t have to play lottery with their lives because we don’t trust the next military maneuver that is going to come from the next Russian Leader and our best bet is that it is good to be educated but not to die prematurely.

“Let’s bring them to a place of safety and when our lives return to normalcy we could always go back,” he said.

Meanwhile, Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is gravely concerned about the security and safety of Ghanaians living in Ukraine following reports of tensions and violent clashes.

According to the Ministry, the government has in the meantime asked over 1,000 students and other Ghanaians to seek help at government places of shelter.

This is to ensure their safety temporarily as government “engages the authorities, our relevant diplomatic missions and our honorary consul on further measures.”

Background

International media outlets have reported that Russian troops on Thursday launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen."

“Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of an invasion that could cause massive casualties, topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government and threaten the post-Cold War balance on the continent.”

President Joe Biden has pledged new sanctions to punish Russia for the aggression.

But Putin has justified it all in a televised address, asserting that the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine.

He claimed that Russia does not intend to occupy Ukraine but will move to “demilitarize” it and bring those who committed crimes to justice.