Rejoinder: Govt warns demonstrating Liberian refugees

I retort to the statement signed by Kwamena Bartels that accuses Liberian refugees at Buduburam Settlement of holding illegal demonstrations. I ask you Mr. Bartels, exactly how has Ghana shown `goodwill` to the 40,000 refugees living on camp? Over the last 10 years, Liberian refugees have not even been afforded the most basic of human needs. I pose the question to you, Mr. Bartels: Does the Rights of Refugees Under International Law not clearly state that ``the fundamental human rights of every person under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the right to life, which implies unconditional access to basic necessities of life including food, shelter, water, healthcare, education and protection``?

As of 1996, when food rations were cut off, refugees have been abandoned and left to struggle on their own to find food. Reports indicate that less than 500 refugees are receiving food rations, and the most dehumanizing aspect of this is that they are not even being provided their staple food. Maize is the staple food of Ghanaians, not Liberians.

Numerous Liberian refugees have been killed by cars while walking to the roadside to search for water. For more than 10 years, refugees have been deprived of pipe-borne water and as a result, many risk their lives in search of water from bore holes, streams and other unhygienic sources. Now we come to shelter. Over the last 18 years, refugees have built their own structures using their own means. However, many refugees are forced to pay taxes on their own homes by greedy landowners and chiefs. The UNHCR has a poster on almost every building across camp, and yet, they have not been responsible for providing a single refugee on camp a home. And despite the healthcare clinics on camp being subsidized substantially with drugs and equipment, refugees are being asked to pay as high as 50 dollars for simple malaria and typhoid treatments. Alternatively, many refugees who cannot afford the unbearable costs result to over-the-counter treatment, which often leads to health complications and fatalities.

Now we come to sanitation. Although there are numerous latrines located on camp, the 5 Pesewa fee for a single use is too costly for most refugees who need to pay for food and water. As a result, many refugees are victims of threats and attacks in the bush and from other Ghanaian private lands. Latrines and bath houses were meant to be managed by the refugees themselves, however, they have been taken over by Ghanaians, limiting the potential employment of many refugees on camp.

Education is a basic right to all refugee children in primary schools under domestic law. Not only have primary students been paying fees, but they have also been exempted from the school feeding program that is being provided to all primary students in Ghana. Due to the lack of income by refugee parents, hundreds of children are unable to acquire basic education on camp. Most alarming however is the blatant lack of capacity building measures by the UNHCR and the Christian Council of Ghana. These programs are supposed to equip refugees with the skills needed for self-reliance and economic development, however, the limited training programs on camp lack resources, materials and internship programs. I ask you once again Mr. Bartels, how can you expect the Liberian refugees to integrate into Ghanaian society when very little has been done to offer them empowerment and skill development? And another question for you, what has happened to the so-called ``free enterprise market`` that Ghana so proudly boasts about? When refugee women, who are forced to become the bread-winners in the family, are kicked out of their own Buduburam market by Ghanaian women who claim, ``this is my country, get the hell out``, how is a refugee woman to make a living and support her family?

And lastly, we come to the most important basic need of every human being on earth, and that is security. Although Ghana, among many West African nations, appears as a stable and peaceful country, the same cannot be said for the life of Liberian refugees living on camp. Over the last ten years, refugees have been victims of serious attacks by unknown persons. In 2001, many innocent Liberians were stabbed to death in the middle of the night as they slept in their beds. The Ghanaian culprit was apprehended with the weapon, but later released without any explanation from Ghanaian authority on camp. The mysterious killings of children and young adults have left the refugee community in a constant state of fear. The sexual abuse and defilement of female refugees by school officials, taxi drivers, and camp authority is also a serious problem on camp.

I would like to bring attention to the Ghanaian public the incident on February 2003. At 5:00 am, a massive contingent of Ghanaian security forces under the command of Brigadier General Danquah arrested all adult male refugees, rounded them up and detained them under the excruciating heat of the sun from dawn until dusk without food or water, and with no clear explanation. Before releasing the refugees, Security Forces subjected the men to insults and branded them as criminals, rebels, armed-robbers, prostitutes and drug-traffickers. In other instances, refugees have been unjustly arrested and incarcerated in prison without due process. Reports by families indicate that some of these refugees were taken away by police and have never been seen since.

I ask you this Mr. Bartels: When Liberian refugees are continuing to experience abuse, intimidation and even murder from many of the locals, does this not clearly indicate the xenophobia of Ghanaians to accept the refugees into society? Is it not apparent to you and the Government of Ghana that all these situations make it obvious that Ghanaians are unwilling to co-exist with the refugees in so-called ``integration``?

And one more thing Mr. Bartels, do you honestly believe that Ghana is immune to the civil war that has ravaged West Africa over the last 30 years? Do you not think that Ghanaians have a valuable lesson to be learned from our Liberian brothers and sisters?