Prez Mahama Condemns Double Standards in Global Migration at UN General Assembly

President John Dramani Mahama has sharply criticised what he described as hypocrisy in global migration policies, accusing Western nations of applying double standards in their treatment of refugees.

Addressing the 80th United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, September 25, Mahama contrasted the swift acceptance of Ukrainian refugees with the hesitant response to Africans displaced by war and climate disasters.

He cited the ongoing Sudan conflict, which the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, displacing 12 million people, as an example of the unequal global response.

“When we speak of migration, we refer to the 12 million new refugees, whom we, as a global community, should be willing to assist in much the same way that many member nations readily assisted new refugees from Ukraine,” Mahama declared.

Highlighting that many migrants from the Global South are climate refugees, Mahama noted that nations in the Global North — responsible for emitting 75% more greenhouse gases — bear less of the burden. “When the desert encroaches and our villages and towns become unlivable, we are forced to flee,” he stressed.

The Ghanaian leader urged the world to reject xenophobia and racism, calling for a balanced narrative on migration. He celebrated the successes of immigrants of African descent, citing Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, the first Black female judge on a California federal district court, and Peter Bossman, a Ghanaian-born doctor who became Eastern Europe’s first Black mayor in Slovenia.

“We cannot normalise xenophobia and racism. If we are going to tell a story, let’s not tell it slant. Let’s tell all the truth,” Mahama concluded.