Liberian Refugees Demand Repatriation

Liberian refugees, who escaped into Ghana at the height of the civil war in their country, have petitioned the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, with a tall order of demands.

The refugees, at the Buduburam camp, are against local integration into the Ghanaian society and are asking to be resettled in a western country or be paid to voluntarily repatriate to Liberia.

Some of them are reported to have forced the closure of all schools at the camp by intimidating and preventing children from going to school.

Minister of Interior issued a statement reminding the refugees that they have a duty under international refugees’ conventions to respect the laws of Ghana.

Peter Tetteh Korda, a journalist at Joy FM radio said the demonstrations started a few weeks ago when “the government of Ghana, with the agreement of the UNHCR decided to repatriate these refugees who have been here for 18 years.”

He said the UNHCR had rejected their demand to be paid “1000 dollars each in order to return to their homeland, and offered them “100 dollars per person, that is for every adult, and 50 dollars for every child.”