Gold mine raids in Ghana seize 124 suspected illegal Chinese workers
Mainland prospectors seeking their fortunes in Ghana are rounded up and face being deported
Police are rounding up Chinese workers suspected of illegally mining for gold in the resource-rich African country of Ghana.
Witnesses said armed officers raided mines, supermarkets and hotels in Kumasi, Obuasi and Dunkwa in the Ashanti region of the west African country, where Chinese run the majority of the small and medium gold mines.
Ghana's Immigration Service said yesterday that 124 illegal Chinese gold prospectors had been detained in the capital Accra, Xinhua reported, adding that the Chinese Embassy had confirmed the arrests. Many of them are likely to be deported.
China's Foreign Ministry urged its nationals in Ghana to "respect local laws" and asked the local authorities to protect Chinese people's rights.
Most of the illegal prospectors in Ghana are Chinese - an estimated 50,000 of them - and the majority come from the town of Shanglin in Guangxi .
Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa, after South Africa. The Chinese gold rush in Ghana began in 2005. As word spread about the easy fortunes made by the early adventurers, thousands flocked there.
At its peak, several thousand small gold mines were run by Chinese, who formed partnerships with local owners.