Ghana hosted some 35,000 refugees at the end of 1996, including about 20,000 from Togo and approximately 15,000 from Liberia. An estimated 10,000 Ghanaians were refugees in neighboring Togo, and an estimated 20,000 Ghanaians were internally displaced. Togolese Refugees More than 100,000 Togolese refugees fled to Ghana in 1993 because of their government's violent resistance to democratic reforms. The overwhelming majority settled into Ghanaian villages and rural areas, making exact estimates of their numbers difficult. Togolese began trickling back to their homeland in 1994-95 after the Togo government promised amnesty to political opponents. UNHCR conducted an organized repatriation program in 1996 and gave refugee families the equivalent $50 and three months of food rations to facilitate their return home. IOM provided transportation to elderly and sick returnees; most other refugees arranged their own transportation back to Togo. Some 50,000 or more Togolese refugees repatriated from Ghana during the year; the overwhelming majority repatriated with UNHCR assistance. About 80 percent of the refugees who lived in Klikor camp, located ten miles from the Ghana-Togo border, returned to Togo, leaving 3,000 refugees in the camp at year's end. Relief programs continued for the dwindling refugee population. After extensive debate, humanitarian workers reduced general food distributions in an effort to better target food aid to the neediest beneficiaries. Only occupants of Klikor camp received food, in half-ration quantities. Although Ghana's official language is English, an education program conducted classes in Togo's official language, French, for refugee children. Ghanaian officials allowed more than 4,000 Togolese refugee students and teachers to use local classrooms for their schooling. UNHCR expected to continue the organized repatriation program until April 1997, and was preparing to close one field office in Ghana as 1996 ended. Several thousand Togolese refugees were expected to remain in Ghana indefinitely due to their prominent opposition to Togo's ruling party. Sources indicated that agents of the Togo government have harassed and assassinated prominent Togolese refugees during their time in Ghana, including alleged assassinations in 1996. Ghanaian police reportedly have taken individual Togolese refugees into temporary custody to protect them from assassination by infiltrators. Liberian Refugees Most of the estimated 15,000 Liberian refugees in Ghana arrived during 1990-91 to escape their own country's civil war. About 1,700 arrived during 1996. Some 9,000 to 15,000 Liberians lived in or near a UNHCR-assisted camp 25 miles from Accra, the capital. USCR conducted a site visit to the camp, Buduburam, in mid-1996. The camp functioned as a small town, with concrete houses for refugees, about 20 churches, and some electricity. Ghana's high unemployment hindered Liberians' ability to find jobs in the local economy. Refugees received loans from UNHCR for farming activities in the environs of the camp. Most refugees originated from Liberia's urban areas, however, and exhibited limited interest in agriculture. Some 1,500 Liberian refugees arrived in Ghana by boat in mid-1996. Government authorities initially prohibited the boat, the Bulk Challenge, from landing in Ghana. Officials allowed the vessel to refuel and directed it toward Nigeria. Some 200 passengers jumped off the boat to reach shore. The Bulk Challenge returned to Ghana a day later with mechanical trouble. "The situation has become desperate," UNHCR warned. "Unless the door is opened for them, a lot of people, many of them women and children, may die." USCR criticized Ghana and neighboring states for denying Liberian "boat people" an opportunity to "assert the legitimacy of their safety concerns.... It is shocking," USCR added, "that West African countries with long traditions of generosity toward Liberian refugees are shutting the door in the most inhumane way." Ghanaian officials bowed to international pressure and belatedly allowed the Bulk Challenge to land and disembark its passengers. USCR's site visit interviews with the new arrivals indicated that UNHCR rapidly registered the refugees. "Emergency medical assistance was provided by the Red Cross and the Ghanaian Ministry of Health; only eight persons required hospital admission," USCR reported. "The refugees were transported [eight miles] to a makeshift camp at a vocational school called Essipon.... Because the school building could not house all the refugees, tents were erected on the football field.... Although they are encouraged to remain in the camp, they are allowed free movement in the local community." The new arrivals eventually relocated to another, less crowded, site where they lived in tents. A more permanent site with new housing, water and sanitation facilities, a school, and a community hall was under construction as the year ended. Ghana denied entry to a second refugee boat, the Zolotitsa, and its 400 passengers. "We will not accept any refugee ship anymore. We have had enough," a Ghanaian foreign affairs official stated. The vessel eventually limped back to Liberia. Crime attributed to Liberian refugees also placed a strain on Ghana's traditional generosity. Police conducted a search of Buduburam camp after receiving complaints that some Liberian refugees were committing robberies and selling arms. Uprooted Ghanians An outbreak of ethnic conflict in rural northern Ghana in 1994 destroyed more than 300 villages, left up to 2,000 persons dead, and forced up to 200,000 persons from their homes. The violence was linked to historical land disputes among ethnic groups. Fighting continued sporadically in 1995, resulting in more than 100 deaths and thousands of newly displaced persons. Violence diminished during 1996. Government troops patrolled the conflict zone, and churches and government officials conducted reconciliation meetings with local inhabitants in an effort to ease tensions. Aid workers distributed farming tools, seeds, and other household goods. Most uprooted families returned to their homes, although an estimated 20,000 remained internally displaced. Some 10,000 Ghanaians remained refugees in neighboring Togo, and were not expected to repatriate in the near future.
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