Togo hosted nearly 12,000 refugees at the end of 2003, the vast majority from Ghana.

About 5,000 Togolese refugees remained outside the country at year's end, including more than 4,000 in Ghana, and some 1,000 in Benin.

Refugees from Ghana

Ethnic conflict in northern Ghana forced some 15,000 Ghanaians into Togo in 1994. About 10,000 remained in Togo at the end of 2003. Most Ghanaian refugee families lived in northern Togo among local residents while others resided in Lomé, the capital. Most were well integrated and self-sufficient and required no humanitarian assistance. In December 2003, an assessment team composed of officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Togolese government visited refugee communities in northern Togo to begin registration for repatriation. Some 500 Ghanaian refugees who had indicated an interest in repatriation in 2002 agreed to return home in 2004.

General Refugee Issues

For the second consecutive year, UNHCR coordinated its refugee assistance and protection programs in Togo from its Cluster Office in neighboring Benin. UNHCR's implementing partners in Togo provided basic living necessities and limited housing assistance to vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees of various nationalities. Refugee children attending primary and secondary schools received enrollment fees and other educational benefits.

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