Ghana arrests 57 West Africans in illegal gold mine raid

Ghana has arrested more than 50 West Africans accused of illegal gold mining in a crackdown that has already led to the detention of dozens of Chinese nationals, authorities said today.
The country is a major gold producer and illegal mining is seen as a growing problem, with high gold prices in recent years having helped attract foreigners. The government is seeking to end years of spotty regulation.
"We had in our custody 57 foreigners.... These were mostly West Africans," Francis Palmdeti, a spokesman for Ghana's immigration service, told AFP of the weekend raid on an illegal mine in a remote area of Ghana's Eastern region.

"The breakdown as of now is 51 nationals of Niger, two Togolese nationals, one Nigerian and three individuals who claim to be Ghanaians."
Palmdeti said immigration authorities would be working with the embassies to verify the identities of those arrested and then return them to their home countries.
A combined task force of police, immigration and national security agents has descended on Ghana's interior to flush out illegal miners, which authorities blame for harming water supplies and the environment of Africa's second-largest gold producer.

President John Dramani Mahama, who is under increasing pressure to halt the illegal mining, formed the task force last month.

Last week, the task force arrested 168 foreigners, mostly Chinese as well as six Russians, Palmdeti said.
The Chinese embassy is paying the bail and fines for their arrested miners, and is also facilitating the repatriation of any Chinese in the country illegally, Palmdeti said.
He added that the arrests will continue until authorities are satisfied the illegal mining is halted, and will likely expand into the country's northern region.
"We'll keep at it until such time that we think some sanity has been restored in that sector of the economy," Palmdeti said.