A group of Burkinabe nationals are reporting continuous harassment and are calling on the Liberian government, through the LRRRC, to urgently provide them with protection.
The group alarms of constant harassment, mistreatment amongst others, by unidentified men claiming to be state security personnel.
One of the Burkinabes who spoke to our reporter on the condition of anonymity confirmed that he and his colleagues have been constantly intimidated by Liberian security officials. The officials claim that many of them do not have proper documentation to reside in Liberia.
“We are suffering due to the war in our country. We came to Liberia, and now we are facing intimidation from Liberian security,” the middle-aged Burkinabe added through an interpreter in French.
At the same time, Burkinabes are asking the Liberian government for identification to move freely without intimidation in the country.
Liberia currently hosts about 40,000 Burkinabes residing in the southeastern counties of Grand Gedeh, Maryland and River Gee.
When contacted, LRRRC Boss Patrick Wozie expressed concern about the situation and noted that the Commission is exhorting all efforts to address it.
He further noted that Liberia, as a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Addis Ababa 1969 Convention governing specific aspects of the refugee problem in Africa, will always provide a space for protection for those fleeing conflict and persecution – a situation he believes Burkinabes are faced with.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Burkinabes, including women, have been flocking to the LRRRC Grand Gedeh County office to seek asylum.
Burkinabes accuse of deforestation
Grand Gedeh alone is home to approximately 23,000 Burkinabe asylum seekers, many of whom are engaged in farming activities and work for their Liberian hosts.
Some reports indicate that they have been contributing to deforestation in Grand Gedeh and nearby counties by operating large cocoa farms that require clearing of extensive rainforests.
During a stakeholder meeting organized by USAID earlier this year, James Saydee, the Paramount chief of River Gee County, mentioned that many Burkinabes are friendly and willing to take instruction from their Liberian hosts to clear large forests for farming cocoa and rice.
The LRRRC recently organized a one-day stakeholder dialogue in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to discuss the issue of undocumented migrants in Liberia.
However, the outcome of the meeting is still a cause for concern.
