A growing number of Ghanaians are losing their lives while attempting the perilous journey through Libya to Europe, with many buried in Libya under Muslim rites and data is not in the public domain, so the issue has not received widespread attention, H.E. Hanna Serwaa Tetteh has revealed.

Hanna Tetteh, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), made the disclosure during the 21st ‘Kronti ne Akwamu’ lecture organized by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) at the British Council in Accra.

The lecture was held under the theme _The Changing Global and Multilateral Rules Based Order: Implications for Ghana and Africa’s Strategic Positioning.

Hanna Tetteh the former minister of foreign Affairs noted that while challenges facing African migrants in South Africa often dominate headlines, the situation in Libya is equally dire.

“In Libya, the majority of African immigrants try to go to Europe. They want to exit, and that route is more dangerous than South Africa because a lot of people die on their way to Europe,” she explained.

Through the Embassy, she said there are a number of Ghanaians who die on their way from Libya to Europe and their bodies, when retrieved, are given Muslim funerals. That data doesn’t come to the public domain, so we don’t discuss it.”

Tetteh cautioned Ghanaians who view Europe as the gateway to success to rethink that perception. “All those who believe that Europe is the pathway to achieve their vision should be very sensitive to the fact that Europe and the Western world are closing their doors today,” she said.

Report by Bernard K Dadzie Greater Accra Region