|
Let My People Stay•Liberian President Pleads |
|
In the wake of the recent arrest of naked protesting Liberian refugees from their Budumburam Camp near Accra, a passionate appeal has come from President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson to her Ghanaian counterpart. |
The female Liberian President, who is about to storm Accra for an engagement with Ghanaian authorities, is asking that her compatriots are allowed to stay in the country because as she put it, resources are not enough to contain the new arrivals.
Their protests on the roadside a few days ago embarrassed many who passed through that busy part of the Accra-Cape Coast highway.
Minister of the Interior, Hon. Kwamena Bartels is reported to have told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the defaulters would be deported to their home country.
Defending the threat, the Minister noted that the Liberian war had ended and so such an action cannot be construed as a forced repatriation.
Liberian refugees numbering about 27,000 in Ghana are being encouraged to return home but only a fraction of the number had heeded.
The recent demonstration is over what the refugees consider a woeful resettlement amount of $100 being offered by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
They are asking for $1000 for each refugee and to be resettled in the United States.
The Interior Ministry had earlier called their attention to the fact that their action was in contravention of the Public Order Act.
They have refused to be integrated into the Ghanaian society, saying that they will continue to protest at the UN offer. “$100 is not anything you can start life with; we are all lost,” one of the women said.
|
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
