Monrovia — The National Society for Human Rights is urging the Liberian government to take concrete steps to address the current situation facing Liberians living in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana.
The group, currently operating in about 37 countries across the world, has raised alarm about the terrible living conditions experienced by Liberians over the past months, since the Ghanaian government started the demolition of the Buduburam Refugee Camp, located forty miles away from Accra, Ghana.
According to them, based on their visitations and findings at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, front loaders can move in as early as 4 a.m. while the residents are asleep, to begin demolition.
The United Nations ruled in 2006 that it was safe for refugees to return home.
Currently, the group says many refugees are traumatized, without connections, and confined to the Liberia Camp in Buduburam, about 45 km west of Ghana's capital, Accra.
However, they noted that last week, under the orders of traditional authorities who own the land, demolition of the camp began, and by Monday, a large part of the site where the once bustling Liberia Camp had stood for 34 years was reduced to concrete rubble, leaving only palm trees standing.
Residents reportedly sifted through the wreckage of their destroyed, once brightly painted houses to salvage belongings as bulldozers plowed around them.
At the nearby Point Hope Basic School, women, children, and the elderly slept on improvised beds.
Liberia Camp ceased to be classified as a refugee shelter in 2012.
Since then, the landowners have made several attempts at demolition.
Speaking at a joint press conference at the New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentothal Church International, the group's President, Archbishop Thomas Paul Schirmacker, described the situation of the Liberians at the Buduburam Refugee Camp as very dire.
According to him, roofs of church buildings where the Liberians are seeking refuge are being removed by the Ghanaian government so that they will not have a place to sleep.
"What we saw during our visit to the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana last week is very frustrating, and it demands urgent attention from the Liberian Government," Archbishop Thomas Paul Schirmacker, president of the National Society for Human Rights, is quoted as saying.
Also speaking at the press conference, the Secretary-General of the National Society for Human Rights group, Matthias Bohning, called on Canadian International Footballer Alphonso Davies, who was also born at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, to help his fellow Liberians.
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Alphonso Davies, born on November 2, 2000, is a professional soccer player who plays as a left-back or winger for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Canada national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world and one of the best North American players of all time. His exceptional pace, dribbling ability, and creativity have earned him the nickname "The Roadrunner".
Born in Ghana to Liberian refugee parents, Davies and his family moved to Canada when he was five years old. He obtained Canadian citizenship in June 2017 and became the youngest player to appear for the Canadian national team later that month. In a 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against French Guiana, he scored two goals, becoming the youngest player to score for the team and the youngest to score at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Davies has also been named CONCACAF Men's Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
Davies began his career with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer (MLS) before joining Bayern Munich in January 2019.
The executives of the rights group spoke at a joint press conference at the New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentothal Church International in Brewerville.
For his part, the presiding Bishop of the New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentothal Church International, Bishop Kortu Brown, wants President Joseph Koakai's government to take immediate steps to address the plight of the Liberian people in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana.
