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PRESIDENT ANGERED BY REFUGEES’ DEMO |
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President John Agyekum Kufuor yesterday expressed dismay at the demonstrations embarked upon by Liberian refugees in the country, saying their action was "an embarrassment to the entire Ghanaian society". |
He warned that those who have already come on the radar of the security agencies will be monitored and will be instantly sent back if they continue to misconduct themselves.
Speaking before the start of a close-door meeting between Ghanaian officials and their Liberian counterparts at the Castle, President Kufuor said that this is an election year and the government has a duty to ward off any behaviour which could easily be exploited to foment trouble.
"We don’t want to worsen the situation in Liberia but we also have a responsibility," he said.
The President said some of the Liberians were not refugees because they did not have papers to that effect.
Besides, he said, the circumstances that made them seek refuge in Ghana no longer exist and "there will not be any problem if they go back", since the current government is not persecuting anybody.
He said it was good that the delegation had come to dialogue with their Ghanaian counterparts to find a suitable time table for the repatriation of the refugees in order to avoid any bitterness between Ghanaians and Liberians.
He said Ghana has been very sensitive about the misfortunes that befell Liberia and which caused the refugee problem and that was why Ghanaians had accommodated the refugees all this while.
Within the means of Ghana, he said, the Liberian refugees have been treated fairly and he expressed surprise at the sudden turn of events.
"It came as a surprise that quite a sizeable number of them came out to demonstrate, demanding fantastic sums of money which many people don’t understand.
"Then the government is put on the spot to do what every government will do," he said.
The President said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did not want to send the refugees back to Liberia under deportation order.
He said he has received a letter from the UNHCR headquarters asking for the drawing up of a time- table for their repatriation, adding that it was good the delegation too had come with the same idea.
He spoke of the fruitful relationship that exists between Ghana and Liberia and said it will remain the same in the years ahead.
Earlier, the leader of the Liberian delegation Mrs Olubanke King-Akerele, Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered a special message from President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf to President Kufuor and expressed regret about the action of the refugees in Ghana.
"President Johnson-Sirleaf asked me to convey our sincere regret for the action. We don’t condone the action of some of the refugees.
"We cannot sanction such action and we are here to ensure that the excellent relations between us is not marred," she said.
The Liberian refugees started their demonstration on February 19, asking that stipends for refugees returning home be increased from the current 100 dollars to 1000 dollars for adults and to be resettled in Western countries.
Calls by the government on the refugees to end their demonstration were not heeded. The police moved in on March 17 and arrested 630 of them who were demonstrating on a football park. They were detained at a youth centre at Kodiabe, near Tema which has now been designated as a refugee settlement.
On March 22, another 70 were arrested and 16 of them deported on March 23.
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