Belgian national who obtained student permit by false declaration arrested and repatriated Shalimar Abbuisi was seen in a video introducing herself as the spokesperson of THE NEW FORCE, a new political group
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has arrested and repatriated a Belgian national, Shalimar Abbuisi, for obtaining a student permit by false declaration.
Abbuisi was seen in a video introducing herself as the spokesperson of THE NEW FORCE, a new political group. This drew the attention of the GIS, which investigated her immigration status.
The investigation revealed that Abbuisi was on a student permit tenable with a private university. However, further inquiries from the school indicated that she was not a student there. The university then wrote to the GIS to confirm this.
Based on this information, the GIS suspected that Abbuisi had obtained the student permit by fraudulent misrepresentation. She was subsequently arrested for investigations.
Abbuisi was arraigned before court and remanded on December 7, 2023. She was later granted bail on the next court date to enable prosecution to proceed.
However, the charges against her were withdrawn and she was discharged by the court on December 19, 2023.
Despite being discharged by the court, the GIS re-arrested Abbuisi because her residence permit had been revoked by the Comptroller-General of Immigration. This was done pursuant to Section 20 (2)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573, as she had obtained the student permit by fraudulent misrepresentation.
The Comptroller-General of Immigration ordered Abbuisi’s removal from the country as she could not legally remain in Ghana.
She was subsequently repatriated on December 19, 2023, aboard Air Brussels Flight SN 319 back to her home country.
The GIS has cautioned all foreign nationals in the country to strictly adhere to the country’s immigration laws. The service has also assured Ghanaians that it will continue to rigorously enforce immigration laws to remove all undocumented persons whose presence in the country is a threat to national security.
This is a developing story and we will provide updates as they become available.