‘We can’t pay mandatory quarantine bills’–Stranded Ghanaians in Germany cry

 

When Samuel Asante (not his real name) travelled to Germany in February this year, it was a routine business trip to replenish his depleting stock.

The trip was meant to be for just a few weeks. It was at a time coronavirus was in the global headlines, as it ran amok in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The European economic powerhouse had recorded just a few cases. There was no sign of a pandemic that will later quarantine more than a third of the world’s population. — it looked like another health storm in a teacup.

Neither had Ghana record any case at the time. So Samuel felt safe. Upon arrival in Germany, he bought his goods and shipped them to Ghana, but two days before his flight back home, the unexpected happened. Germany closed its borders, as European nations tried to stem the spread of the contagion.

That was on March 16. Germany had recorded close to 5,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 12 deaths. Germany’s neighbour’s such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark had already closed borders or introduced severe restrictions.

As countries across the globe made arrangements to evacuate their citizens stranded beyond their borders, the Ghana government on the advice of health officials decided to insulate the country against imported cases. The government also resisted pressures to bring home stranded Ghanaian students in Wuhan, the epicentre of covid-19.

So Samuel stayed put in Germany. He understood President Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to shut the country’s borders to international traffic on March 22.

After almost three months of witnessing Germany’s efficiency at work until its lockdown was eased in May, Samuel was among hundreds of others who jubilated when the Ghana Embassy in Germany announced that Ghanaians willing to pay their way back home will be supported.

But that joy was short-lived.

The Embassy’s notice to the Ghanaian community made a reference to an earlier correspondent and said, “the evacuation exercise of Ghanaians who are willing to the cost of travel and mandatory quarantine will take place between 21^st to 25^th June 2020.

It said in preparation for the intended  evacuation, interested applicants should note that “the fare for the chartered flight from Berlin should be paid to the airline operator, who will contact only passengers who fulfil all requirements.” Each person is paying 750 euros for the trip back home.

Evacuation requirements 

These requirements include passenger wearing appropriate face mask before boarding the flight, willing to have their temperature checked, as well as bear the cost of the 14-day quarantine, with the possibility of extension.

It went on to list 2-4 star hotels including Airport View, Alisa and Marriot, with what it described as discounted rates, ranging from GHc 500 per night to GHc 600.

The lodging will entitle the quarantined guests to breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Interested persons have until Tuesday, June 16, to fulfil their financial obligations.

Ghanaians in Nigeria to pay at least $800 for flight home

Samuel and his colleagues, who are on a WhatsApp platform set up to coordinate the returnees’ evacuation,  are not happy, and insisted the government needed to pick up the mandatory quarantine bills.

“A number of people also came here to seek medical care, while others came here for holidays for a month or less.  We are now realising that this disease won’t disappear anytime soon, and Europe is opening up.

“A lot of us have accumulated hotel bills here because we have no option. So no matter how much you came with, by now, your money is either exhausted or reduced drastically. Some of us have borrowed money to pay for the ticket to go back home and look for money to pay back.

“Suddenly, we are being told that we have to pay for the hotel bill for the quarantine. If you chose a hotel [in Ghana] which cost GHc 500 a night, it means you’ll have to pay at least GHc 7,000. Are they going to refund the cost of the ticket if you can’t afford the hotel bill?” he asked.

He said it was in this difficult time that the government must be “sensitive to our plight as Ghanaians. It is not our will that we got stranded here.”

“What benefit I’m deriving from the government when we are citizens in difficulties outside the country and it cannot help us. What is wrong with the government footing our hotel bill? My company in Ghana pays tax every year. I’m really feeling bitter,” he said.

Another person on the platform wondered why the government was willing to take the mandatory quarantine bills of people who arrived in the country earlier, but not that of evacuees.

“There are other relatively cheaper hotels in Ghana that is pretty affordable and decent. If the government paid for other people who were initially quarantined, why not us. If they aren’t going to pay for the cost of quarantine, then they should put us in affordable hotels,” he said.

Ghanaians return to Germany

Meanwhile, 177 Ghanaians with a residence permit in Germany, have been flown back to the European country successfully. Some of the passengers stayed in Ghana for more than three months because of coronavirus lockdown and airport closure.

In May, Kuwait deported 245 Ghanaians to Ghana. 35 of them who were put in mandatory quarantine tested positive for covid-19.

35 Ghanaian deportees test positive for coronavirus