The NEWS (Monrovia)
24 March 2008
Monrovia — The Liberian Government has confirmed that 30 Liberian refugees who are not UNHCR registered persons nor registered with the Ghana Refugee Board were repatriated Saturday.
Of these persons, nine are women and 21 are men.
The refugees were received upon arrival at the Roberts International Airport by senior officials of relevant government agencies, and accommodated at a reception facility temporarily established by the government to ensure their safety.
Information Minster Dr. Laurence Bropleh told reporters the Government of Liberia received a Diplomatic Note through its Embassy in Accra that due to the continued breach of Ghana's Public Orders Laws by some Liberian refugees, the Ghanaian government was constrained to repatriate the first batch of Liberian refugees to Liberia.
The Minister said everything is being done to provide adequate care and support for the repatriated citizens as well as to continue dialogue with the Ghanaian government to amicably resolve this crisis.
Minister Bropleh disclosed that a three-man Technical Team of Government has already arrived in Accra, Ghana, and would visit the refugees camp to access the situation as well as properly inform the Liberian government on what is obtaining on the ground.
Those on the Technical Team include the Deputy Executive Director of the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, John Saah Nyumah; Deputy Immigration Commission for Naturalization, Cllr. Abla Williams, and former Information Minister Rev. Emmanuel Bowier, also a Consultant.
The Technical Team will be followed by an official Liberian delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs. Obubanke King Akerele, Minister of Justice Cllr. Philip A.Z. Banks, Minister of Internal Affairs Ambulai Johnson and Deputy Minister of Information for Public Affairs Gabriel Williams.
They are scheduled to hold talks with the Ghanaian authorities including President John Kuffour, to whom a Special Message will be delivered to him from President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Minister Bropleh said Liberia is not upset with the Ghanaian government as regards what is obtaining in that country, rather Liberia is concerned with the situation that is unfolding there.
He said the Liberian Government is cautioning Liberians to remain peaceful and calm as the two governments work towards resolving the crisis.
He pointed out that all the time that Liberians have resided in Ghana; they have not had a situation of this magnitude.
To diffuse the tension, Minister Bropleh noted that the Liberian government would want a Stay Order so that Liberians cannot be repatriated back home in droves because the country is not yet ready to receive such huge influx.
He said President Johnson Sirleaf has personally spoken to her Ghanaian counterpart, and the Liberian government is working to resolve the crisis.
Though the Liberian Government would like the Ghanaian government to adhere to the Geneva Conventions, however, Ghanaian authority argued that the Liberians are no longer refugees because the war in their country has ended.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that a total of 107 Liberian refugees (mostly men) have been arrested and are being detained at the Police Headquarters in Accra.
As a result of last week's raid, most of the male Liberian refugees have gone into hiding as dusk settles on the refugee camp.
Since February 19, 2008, Liberian refugee women had staged an "indefinite sit down strike" against a plan to reintegrate them into the Ghanaian society after more than 18 years of asylum in that country. They had opted to be resettled in a third country or for the UNHCR to give them US$1000 each to be repatriated back to Liberia as against the US$100 usually provided refugees.
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