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MORE news: PRESS RELEASE NGOs and Concerned Individuals Form Grassroots Campaign to Safeguard Human Rights of Refugees in Ghana March 21, 2008 Kordiabe, Ghana: Over 600 Liberian refugee women and children are in their 5th day of detainment and face imminent deportation. Their crime? Free speech. The women had been holding a peaceful protest in the Buduburam refugee settlement, and, on Monday, March 17, in the early hours, a police force armed with AK47s and tear gas came to arrest them while they were sleeping on the football field. The media has been rife with inaccurate and contradictory reports, making a clear assessment of the situation confusing at best. Neither the government of Ghana nor the UNHCR appears to consider the safety and long-term wellbeing of the refugees as a priority. In response, a group of concerned NGOs and individuals based in Ghana, Italy, France, The United States and the United Kingdom, has been following the situation closely via firsthand reports and independent investigation. The group has organized in order to call for international attention and the protection of the human rights of refugees in Ghana. To achieve these goals, they've created a petition to show support for Buduburam refugees. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/LiberianRefugees/index.html The members of the coalition currently work or have worked in Buduburam and are familiar with the community and issues involved. The petition urges an immediate and peaceful end to the crisis and long-term solutions negotiated by all groups involved, for all groups involved. The resolution should be in accordance with the confines of national and international law, in particular but not restricted to the Geneva Convention of 1951 and the 1957 Additional Protocols. Most urgently, the government of Ghana must immediately release the unconscionably detained women and children. The primary groups involved in the creation of the petition are, The Niapele Project, (www.niapeleproject.org) which serves vulnerable children at Buduburam, Nuch’s Fund which provides free healthcare to the children of one of the camp’s schools, White Tara Productions, (www.whitetara.org) an independent production company specializing in documentaries on social and development-related issues, as well as Vision Awake Africa for Development (www.vaafd.com), an NGO which works to better the lives of Liberians in Ghana and Liberia. It is clear by the immediate volume of signatures received and supportive comments posted, that there are people concerned with this issue all over the world. At the time of this writing, there are 450 signatories and gaining. The aim is to gather these voices of support in a coordinated effort to call attention to the plight of the refugees in Ghana. For further coverage of these events and information on the initiative to resolve it, please see: http://theniapeleproject.org/ Due to the complex nature of civil war and protracted refugee situations, the limited options currently available to the Liberian refugees in Ghana are not viable for all. While no longer at war, Liberia is plagued by poverty, crime and a lack of infrastructure. All of the refugees have limited resources to uproot their current lives and start over with nothing in their homeland. Some suffer severe psycho-social distress from traumas experienced during the war. In regards to resettlement eligibility, Western nations have closed their doors to Liberian refugees. Finally, integration into Ghanaian society has posed challenged such as discrimination and fears for the security of refugees. In light of the lack of options, a group of women at Buduburam formed the organization “Liberian Refugee Women for Refugee Concerns” and began a peaceful protest to call for additional assistance from the UNHCR as they prepare to cope with transition. Beginning February 19, 2008, several hundred Liberian women, including the young, single mothers, and the elderly, convened at the football field on camp, sitting day and night, waiting for recognition. The government of Ghana warned them to cease, but they persisted. The UNHCR, the government of Ghana, and the protesting refugees were unable to reach a compromise. Therefore, the peaceful protesters extended their demonstration into the fourth week. Then, on March 17, 2008, before dawn, the Ghanaian authorities arrived en masse to arrest over six hundred of these women and children. Confronted by the heavily armed police, the women cooperatively boarded the buses and now sit imprisoned. Reports that they face deportation without any due process prevail. Many of them have children who now wait alone on the camp for their mothers' return. Some of the arrested children are not with their mothers. A March 20, 2008 (the 4th full day of their detainment) article at www.myjoyonline.com describes the deplorable conditions where the women and children are held. Reports of miscarriages, scorpion bites, and diarrhea are coming from the detainment center. Fears for these women and children are growing. As the situation unfolds, there is limited thorough and objective coverage of the crisis in the media. Many reports only tell the side of the Ghanaian authorities and some contain complete lies, such as the women being naked! Interior Minister Kwamena Bartels is chief among those making inflammatory statements and spreading rumors. He has also expressed disappointment at the “crass ingratitude” the protesters are displaying. It should be noted that while the Ghanaian government has provided refuge to the Liberians by cooperating with the UNHCR establishment of the Buduburam Settlement in 1990, it has NOT provided food, education, housing, or security at the site, despite any claims to the contrary. The refugees were provided services via international agencies in the early years but have since struggled to provide for themselves. As the Ghanaian government continues to defend their actions, the UNHCR representative in Ghana is issuing statements calling for “due process” but shows no signs of mobilizing to intervene. Even if the UNHCR does not feel a responsibility for these events, its “primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.” (www.unhcr.org). It seems reasonable to expect the UNHCR to step up in order to fulfill their core mandate! Meanwhile, tensions on camp continue to rise as those left behind worry about their mother, daughters and sisters, and then, themselves. While the issue at hand concerns the estimated 26,974 Liberian who reside at the settlement, the total population is about 40,000, consisting of refugees from various African nations. All of their fates hang in the balance. As history has proven, a threat to human rights anywhere is a threat to human rights everywhere. The resolution of this situation will directly affect the thousands of refugees in Ghana, and could serve as a precedent for solutions in protracted refugee situations around the globe. Please follow the link to sign the petition and help to amplify the voice of these vulnerable women and children! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/LiberianRefugees/index.html Contact info: Penelope Chester, Co-founder/Director Niapele Project Penelope@theniapeleproject.org
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