Chief advises refugees to promote peace in host communities

Nana Kofi Nti Yeboah II, the Chief of Fetentaa in the Berekum West District of Brong-Ahafo Region has advised refugees in the country to live in peace and unity with their neighbours in the host communities.

He stressed that there must be a mutual bond of unity and harmonious relationship among themselves and the indigenes in the communities of their settlement to ensure peaceful co-existence and social cohesion.

Nana Yeboah gave the advice in a closing remark delivered on his behalf as the Chair of a durbar organised by the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB) to commemorate the 2018 World Refugee Day (WRD) by the Ivorian Refugees on Wednesday at their Fetentaa Camp.

The celebration, funded by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was on the global and national theme “We Stand in Solidarity with Refugees”.

He assured that the Ivorian Persons of Concern (POC) that, despite that the socio-economic circumstances that portrayed them as such, the Fetentaa community had created the congenial environment for them “to feel at home”.

Nana Yeboah revealed the Fetentaa Traditional Authority had now named the Camp as ‘Fetentaa Number Two’, to psychologically emphasise that they were not strangers in the Fetentaa community.

He entreated them to make judicious use of “whatever” they received from the UNHCR and its partners and added that they must also take advantage of the availability of arable lands in the area to embark on agricultural activities to earn extra income to improve their livelihood.

Mr Teoulou Alex-Herve Gnande, the Camp Chairman disclosed that the UNHCR had announced it would withdraw the financing of their children and wards education, saying “it is sad news and is going to be a burden on us”.

Mr Gnande expressed the fear of what might happen in the future when their children and wards would see themselves as uneducated in the same community where their peers were educated.

He, therefore, pleaded with wealthy individuals, philanthropists, corporate bodies as well as charitable and Non-Governmental Organisations to support them.