45 Illegal Refugees For Liberia

Deputy Information and National Orientation Minister, Frank Agyekum, says some 45 Liberian refugees who found their way into the Gomoa Buduburam Refugee Camp illegally, are to be repatriated by Friday. The 45, part of about 600 refugees rounded up by security forces on Monday, are said to be among a group fuelling agitations at the camp. The demonstrating refugees, largely women, had been holding public demonstrations to back demands for an improved repatriation package from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees before they would relocate to Liberia. The government of Ghana warned the demonstrators that their actions offended the Public Order Act and repeatedly called for an end to the agitations. The security forces rounded the group up in a dawn swoop and carted them in buses to Kordiabe in the Eastern Region where they are currently being held. The Deputy Minister, who was speaking to Citi FM, said the 45 were being processed for immediate repatriation while the government was awaiting a delegation from the Liberian government on Tuesday for discussions on the fate of the rest. He said the Ghanaian Government had no plans to integrate the refugees into the society, denying categorically allegations by some of the refugees that they had documentary evidence to prove a million-dollar plan. Liberian refugees have been accommodated in Ghana for 18 years since war broke out in Liberia.