2017: Nigeria leads in Mediterranean journey, Ghana tops in US Visa lottery
Just like the number of Nigerians trying to enter Europe through the deadly Niger-Libyan axis and the Mediterranean Sea outnumber other Africans, latest report has shown that Ghanaian applicants for the United States (US) Diversity Visa Lottery Programme in 2017 have topped the list of applicants from all over the world with over 1.5 million applications.
In 2015, Ghana topped the list of applicants with 1.73 million applicants.
The Programme was established by the Immigration Act of 1990. The aim is to make 55,000 immigrant visas available annually since 1995.
Business Hilights reports that the Visa Lottery Programme was set up to diversify the immigrant population in the US, by selecting applicants mostly from countries with low rates of immigration to the US in the previous five years.
On the Libyan- Mediterranean Sea voyage, in the last few months over 5,500 Nigerians had been repatriated by the federal government after outcries from the international community that militant groups are killing and selling Africans as slaves in the volatile Mediterranean nation.
Additional findings showed that Just as the number of Ghanaian seeking US Visa lottery is reportedly more than that of any other country in the world, number of Nigerians seeking to enter Europe through Libya remain the highest in the sub-Saharan Africa.
