NADMO, UNHCR settle refugees at Essipon

Sekondi (Western Region) - Sixty-six refugees, fleeing the on-going fighting in Liberia have been settled at Essipon near Sekondi by National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The refugees, made up Liberians, Burkinabes and Ghanaians, escaped from Harper Town in Liberia when they were informed that rebels were advancing towards the town.

The refugees were conveyed to Essipon Refugee Centre with the assistance of the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (UNIOM). Ernest Agyei, deputy Director of Relief and Construction in-charge of Refugee Affairs at NADMO, made these known in an interview with the GNA in Sekondi on Thursday.

He said some of the refugees, who hailed from Komenda in the Central Region have return home, while those from Burkina Faso have left for their country. Agyei said reports indicate that over 10,000 others, who escaped from Liberia and were waiting to be evacuated from the ports in Cote d'Ivoire became stranded due to the crises there.

He said another group of 350 refugees, made up of Ghanaians, Nigerians, Burkinabes, Togolese, Malians and Guineans would be assisted by UNIOM to come to Takoradi by ship at the weekend. Agyei added that NADMO, UNHCR, UNIOM, the Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, the Ghana Immigration Service and other institutions were negotiating for the safe arrival and settlement of the refugees in the country and their subsequent repatriation to their respective countries.