The Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) is calling on Liberian politicians to stop politicizing challenges facing current and former Liberian refugees residing in the Republic of Ghana in the decommissioned Buduburam camp.
In a release issued in Monrovia Tuesday November 16, 2021, LRRRC said it is seriously taken ‘aback’ by some politicians who are providing information base on falsehood about the situation faced with those people concerns and is calling on them to stop, as the situation is purely a humanitarian one and should be void of politics.
The Commission release said the Republic of Liberia as a signatory to several International conventions and protocols, LRRRC is fully aware of one of its core mandate which is to provide International Protection for all refugees, with Liberians refugees around the world and in Ghana being of no exception
“For the record, the Government of Liberia recently dispatched a delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs aimed at holding talks with Ghanaian Authorities to find an permanent solution to the situation”, the release added.
LRRRC further stated that as a result of this bilateral meeting, a joint communiqué was signed including the establishment of a technical team headed by LRRRC of Liberia and the Ghana Refugees Board (GRB) with the mandate of developing a roadmap that will ensure the repatriation of Liberians in safety and dignity.
While in Ghana, the Liberian delegation also met with current and former Liberian refugees. In that meeting, over 5,000 Liberians residing in the Buduburam refugee camp are expected to voluntarily repatriate to Liberia, the Government is committed to see this come to fruition.
The commission is in the meantime, appealing to those who want to make political gain about the situation to rethink as Refugee situation is strictly humanitarian and not political.
The release concludes that the Government of Liberia through LRRRC is doing everything possible to begin returning its citizens, it will be holding stakeholder’s consultative engagements to welcome meaningful suggestions and contributions aim at finding permanent solution to the situation.
In August, Solomon Darko Quarm, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa East in the Central Region in Ghana revealed that they have been given instruction by President Akufo Ado to demolish the Buduburam Refugee Camp and settlements around the camp.
The green light from President Ado followed a three-month ultimatum given by chiefs of Gomoa District to the government of Ghana to demolish the Buduburam Refugee Camp on the ground that the camp is being used as a hideout for prostitution and other crimes.
In a video posted to social media by CitiTube, a local television station in Ghana on May 19, 2021, the Gomoa Fetteh Traditional Council said many of the crimes committed in nearby cities are linked to persons inside the Buduburam Camp.
“The Government should get rid of those buildings over there. I think the place should not be a hiding place where people do a lot of things that do not to speak good well of Buduburam,” Chief of Gomoa District Nana Abor Attah stressed.
