Events

Ghana to receive 480 million Canadian dollars budgetary support yearly

 

Recruitment of hundreds of youth to USA start in Tema

 

Consular officials warn Ghanaians of fraudsters

 

Bank Exchange Rate, November 21, 2006

 

 

 

Annan sees cause for hope in face of global challenges

 

Recruitment of hundreds of youth to USA start in Tema

 

Bank Exchange Rate, November 21, 2006

 

2007 Budget Highlights

 

GDP rises to 6.2 per cent

 

An evening of honor for H. E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Africa Prize

 

When Grandpa turned 70 (Yaw's story)

 

Ghana Wesley Methodist Church, USA, mourns with the Asafu-Adjayes

 

2006 Ghanaian Women's Courage Awards (Canada)

 

Ovation for Secretary General Annan

Ghanadot.com

 

Pictures of the Asantehene's visit to Morocco

 

 

 

News Page
In This Issue...Links to the NewsMarch 11, 2016

UN Refugee staff trained to detect scams

Accra, Dec. 6, GNA - Identity and document fraud, staged security incidents, fake medical reports and bribery are among the main subjects on the curriculum for United Nations staff working in resettlement programmes for African refugees as part of an intensified battle against scams.


“It is clear that the vast majority of refugees are law-abiding,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Director for Resettlement Services, Mr Vincent Cochetel told a training workshop for 30 participants from more than a dozen UNHCR offices in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.


“However, fraud – from individual cases to larger scale criminal enterprises – serves to undermine and even threaten this important protection tool,” he said in a written message to the two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya.


A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday by the UN Information Centre in Accra said the course was also attended by representatives of the United States, Canada and Australia, three of the major resettlement countries, as well as an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) official.


It said similar training workshops were planned for West Africa and Asia. The training is one of a number of initiatives undertaken by the resettlement service to enhance counter-fraud activities.
“It is particularly reassuring to us to see that UNHCR is doing something about resettlement fraud and that there is transparency in dealing with it. It gives us more confidence,” Canadian diplomat Tracy Vansickle said.


In 2001, resettlement programmes for more than 150,000 refugees in Kenya were suspended after it was discovered that a criminal network had infiltrated UNHCR’s refugee status determination process to force bribes from people seeking resettlement in third countries.
Measures have since been introduced to prevent such fraud, but the agency remains on the alert for new scams, including the use of the internet.


Mr Cochetel said it was essential to step up efforts to combat resettlement fraud because “the consequences can be detrimental, above all, to refugees as resettlement programmes may be suspended indefinitely as a result of fraud”.


In the class on identity fraud, a UNHCR protection officer cited a refugee from Eritrea, who had presented herself as an Ethiopian national because she believed this would boost her chances of resettlement.


The refugee spoke Amharic, a language spoken in both Ethiopia and Eritrea, which made early detection of the fraud difficult.


Another case cited involved Burundian refugees presenting themselves as Rwandan nationals. Rwanda and Burundi have the same ethnic composition.


In other cases, refugees registered non-family members as relatives to benefit from more aid.


When it came to processing for resettlement, they claimed that the relative was dead.


“We have seen false death certificates, particularly when families are unable to produce children registered in the family unit,” a protection officer told the workshop.


UNHCR staffs were urged to remain vigilant for red flags of possible fraud or corruption such as sudden unexplained wealth of individuals involved in resettlement. “If your systems are weak and the management oversight in resettlement is modest or inadequate, it all comes together to create an opportunity for fraud,” Ted Tunis, the lead trainer at the workshop, warned.


GNA


 

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UN Refugee staff trained to detect scams

Accra, Dec. 6, GNA - Identity and document fraud, staged security incidents, fake medical reports and bribery are among the main subjects on the curriculum for United Nations staff working in resettlement programmes for African refugees as part of an intensified battle against scams. ....More

 

Newmont says it recognizes rights of Mining Communities

Accra, Dec. 6, GNA – Newmont Gold, Ghana Limited said on Wednesday that the recent incident at Yamfo in the Brong-Ahafo Region in which representatives of Wassa Association of Communities .... may have been caused by misunderstanding and lack of communication......More

 

Go the extra mile to raise high the flag of Ghana
 

GNA – President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday exhorted Ghanaian athletes to go the extra mile and die a bit to raise high the flag of the country by winning more medals, especially gold, at international competitions........More

 

 

Veep calls on public sector workers to step up productivity in 2007

Accra, Dec. 6, GNA - Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Tuesday said the Government's commitment to produce more resources to improve the conditions of service of public sector employees should be reciprocated by increased productivity.....More

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