 |
|
The Fake US Embassy |
|
Just what kind of
America do you think this is?
E. Ablorh-Odjidja
December 06, 2016
The
news about the US visa scam in Ghana is disturbing but
amusing in some aspects.
Just think about the poor
sap who visits “the sham embassy ...housed in a run-down,
pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof ,”
thinking he or she was on his way to America!
But
this joke shouldn't prevent us from thinking about the
other aspects; including the issue of corruption in our country, Ghana.
A United
States Department of State report said, “In Accra, Ghana,
there was a building that flew an American flag outside
every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, 7:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Inside hung a photo of President Barack Obama, and signs
indicated that you were in the U.S. Embassy in Ghana.”
The picture of the embassy in the story depicted a decrepit building
obviously located in a slum neighborhood.
Inside the
purported US Embassy, shouldn't a person in his right
druthers ask, “why am I paying $6000 for the chance to
immigrate to a country with this decrepit looking embassy?”
The richest country in the world couldn't afford a
decent looking embassy?
Well, only the sap, the
ignorant or the desperate will miss the obvious. But what
about the rest of us, shouldn't we think there is something
awfully wrong here – about us?
How about thinking
that with our attitude or deliberate negligence, our whole
nation could be aiding and abetting this crime?
At
this point, we should be bewildered. But our bewilderment
shouldn't last longer than a second.
I know some of
our
readers would be full of compassion for these desperate
folks who trek from far and wide to seek visas from a fake
embassy. Hence, they wouldn't blame these folks. These are hard
times and had been so for a long time.
And of
course, the country and our leaders should not be blamed
either because there are
visa scams in other countries too.
Well, this lament
also has to be short.
Remember the story that is unfolding is about our Ghana. She was the target for the US State
department investigations.
Investigations of this
nature don't just happen. They start when it is suspected that there is corruption
in your system; perhaps, a system that is bereft of
institutional integrity throughout its cultural and
governmental establishments.
But be careful. Don't allow
the built-in Ghanaian humor to ruin your sense of the
seriousness of the matter, or what is harmful to our image
as Ghanaians.
The US already considers
this issue a matter of serious security risk. Just consider
911, ISIS, Turks and fake visa manufacturing factory located in Ghana!
Then, remember a task force was formed to investigate the
matter. Therefore, there will be consequences and subtle
repercussions.
Unfortunately, our
institutions would probably not bother or care to understand
fully the repercussions that may follow.
Immigration is
a safety valve for poor countries. It helps if few of its people could
escape to other land and places like the US.
The
benefits of immigrating to rich countries are already
documented in remittances we receive, which disproportionately benefit
our national coffer.
So imagine a reduction in visa
numbers or a delay in their issuance from the real US
Embassy in Ghana and the ill effects the equivalent
reduction in remittances will cause at some levels of our
society.
Admittedly and to some extent, the
discomfort may be personal and limited to some individuals.
But do imagine yourself showing up, after a flight
from Accra International to arrive at a US port only to have
a US immigration officer take a second look at your visa and
then to send you back on mere suspicion.
Fake visa or
not, would you mind the experience of such an ignominious
return? Well, put the blame on that decrepit fake visa
factory in Accra.
“For about a decade it operated
unhindered; the criminals running the operation were able to
pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as
obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored.” The State
Department report said.
Again, we may not be the
only country for fake US visa origins. But ours is the only
country currently highlighted in the US report for West
Africa, ahead of any similarly situated country.
“The sham embassy advertised ... to cultivate customers from
Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo. Some of the services the
embassy provided for these customers included issuance of
fraudulently obtained, legitimate U.S. visas, counterfeit
visas, false identification documents (including bank
records, education records, birth certificates, and others)
for a cost of $6,000.” The report continued.”
The
insulting part of this mater for this writer, beyond the initial crime, is
the identity of the principal operators of the scam,
“Turkish citizens, who spoke English and Dutch, posed as
consular officers and staffed the operation,” the State
Department report said.
Don't you want to ask why
these Turks thought they could easily round up fools within
the borders of our country?
E.
Ablorh-Odjidja,Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC,
December 06, 2016.
Permission to publish: Please
feel free to publish or reproduce, with credits, unedited.
If posted at a website, email a copy of the web page to
publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at all
|
