Buduburam refugees received money in 2012 to relocate - Refugees Board

Buduburam refugees received money in 2012 to relocate - Refugees Board www.EweGhana.Net The Ghana Refugees Board said it gave Liberian refug...

Buduburam refugees received money in 2012 to relocate - Refugees Board www.EweGhana.Net

The Ghana Refugees Board said it gave Liberian refugees registered at Buduburam refugee camp in the central region $ 400 each to enable them to leave the camp as early as 2012.

Executive Board Secretary Tetteh Padi said this in an interview with Citi News following the Government of Ghana's decision to demolish the camp.

Mr. Tetteh Padi said there are currently only 400 registered refugees who would be helped to leave the camp due to the impending demolition.

“We only have a little over 400 recognized Liberian refugees in Budumburam camp. We are responsible for them and therefore we are making arrangements to resettle them in some of our refugee camps. We will help them whenever they choose to be relocated.

" “For the rest of them, at the end of 2012, the secession clause was invoked, which meant that Liberians stopped being refugees. Some chose to return voluntarily, others decided to stay, which meant they were fine and could fend for themselves.

" “They also received work permits and some cash grants, $ 400 per adult, and free Liberian passports. The residence permit of 50% each was paid for by the government of Ghana and UNHCR.

It is renewed for them free of charge. They were also given an annual subscription to the National Health Insurance ”. Buduburam camp became home to Liberian refugees after it was opened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1990.

It initially housed some 12,000 refugees. It is also home to refugees from Sierra Leone who fled their country's civil war between 1991 and 2002. Following the decommissioning of the camp in 2005 and several reports that the camp had become a den of criminals and other vices, the authorities made the decision to demolish the camp structures.

The Liberian refugees and other residents of the camp have therefore had until September 30, 2021 to resettle but when the deadline expires, they say they have no money to find new accommodation. But according to the board of directors, he has done enough to make sure they are comfortable and integrated into the company.

“They were asked to go to rent a decent accommodation with the $ 400 they gave them, since the owners of the land would come for them. However, they remained there because no one expelled them during all this time, "added Tetteh Padi.