Committee to address issues at Buduburam camp

A six-member Ministerial Committee has been tasked by the Ministry of the Interior, to investigate the circumstances leading to the acquisition of the Buduburam land for a refugee settlement and make recommendations for its closure.

Mr Kenneth Dzirasah, Chairman of the Committee, said it is necessary to address the numerous conflicts relating to land ownership in Buduburam by different chiefs of the settlement.

The Buduburam Settlement has been home to thousands of Liberian Refugees who fled the civil war in their country in 1990.

He said although majority of the refugees have been assisted by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the Ghana Refugee Board to voluntarily repatriate to their country, there are Liberians still living in the camp.

The Committee which held its inaugural meeting at the Buduburam Settlement in the Central Region on Wednesday met with various stakeholders, including representatives of the chiefs in the area, the Gomoa East District Assembly, National Disaster Management Organisation, Liberian Refugee Welfare Council, District Health Service, and Ghana Education Service.

The Chairman noted that the six- member Committee that was inaugurated on March 25, also has responsibility to establish the size of the land in occupation as refugee settlement.

Mr Dzirasah, who is also the Chairman of the Ghana Refugee Board, said the body was aware that some refugees have illegally sold their structures.

“Therefore such transactions were a nullity as the refugees could not have sold out land which did not belong to them”, he added.

Ms Chansa Kapaya, UNHCR Representative, said the move was a positive step taken by the government to find solutions to existing problems.

She commended Ghana for being hospitable to accommodate the refugees for years.

Ms Kapaya, however, appealed to the Committee to attach dignity, respect, humaneness and sensitivity to the residual refugees who currently live in Buduburam.

Reverend Constance Exploit Bowier, one of the exempted refugees living in the Camp, appealed to the Committee and stakeholders to alert them on how soon they are going to evacuate them so that they make preparations for it.

She also thanked the government on behalf of the refugees for providing them with hospitability over the past years.