The 30 Hour Famine

Taking a break from reporting news from Buduburam to bring you a video of the 30 hour Famine, an awareness and fund raising event that was held in Los Angeles, CA, on March 7th-8th 2008.

We would like to thank Bruce and Tanya Fleenor; Christ's Church and of course the wonderful kids who participated in this event

Keeping you informed

A telephone interview with one of the refugees deported to Liberia on Sunday, March 23rd 2008.

This is a report by the BBC's David Amanor - one of the few mainstream media reports which displays journalistic integrity. David actually took the time to investigate, to speak with the people whose lives are in jeopardy. By the way, the aid worker featured in this report is Jessica Leombruno, the Niapele field coordinator.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Meanwhile, you can click here to make a donation to help us provide the detained refugee women and children with basic necessities.

Emergency fundraising for detained refugee women and children

We have set up a special "emergency fund" for the detainees at the Kordeabe center in the Eastern region. Our first priority continues to be the 560 women and children now in their 11th day of detention in dire conditions.

An American volunteer in Ghana will receive these funds to avoid drawing suspicions or attention on our local contacts. She will purchase and coordinate delivery of the most necessary items via the human rights lawyers and advocates involved.
Current needs are:

• medicine,
  
• food,
  
• water,
  
• underwear,
  
• sanitary pads, and
  
• pots/pans/utensils for these individuals in great need.
  

Please click here to make a secure online donation to help provide detained refugee women and children with basic necessities

Thanks for your support,

The Niapele Project Team

Update - UNHCR takes position on recent refugee crisis in Ghana

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

Following a deportation on Sunday 23 March of 16 Liberians by the Ghanaian authorities - 13 of them registered with UNHCR as refugees – we have urged Ghana to cease any further forcible removals.

The deportation followed a five-week sit-in demonstration by a group of Liberians which started last month on 19 February at the Buduburam refugee settlement, some 35 km west of the country's capital city Accra. Refugees were demanding to be resettled to third countries or, if they were to return to Liberia, for the return grant, currently $100, to be increased to $1,000. Despite our extensive efforts to promote dialogue and convince the demonstrators to express themselves within the confines of Ghanaian law, the group engaged in increasingly threatening and disruptive action.

After having shown restraint for over a month, the Ghanaian authorities arrested some 630 demonstrators on March 17. The group was taken to a youth training facility at Kordiabe in the east of the country, where they were visited and assisted by UNHCR. On the evening of 21 March 2008, UNHCR negotiated the release of 90 of the most vulnerable of the group, including separated children and pregnant women.

However, the following day on March 22, we were informed of the arrest of some 70 Liberians from Buduburam. We immediately requested the authorities to be granted access to the group. This request was still pending when we learned that 16 people from the group had been deported to Liberia early in the morning on March 23.
Thirteen of them - 10 men and 3 women – were refugees.

We regret the deportation of this group of refugees and hope that our ongoing negotiations with the Ghanaian authorities will help resolve the situation of the refugees still in detention.

The demonstration stopped on Monday. We are continuing to try and persuade the refugee community to use existing channels to address their issues as well as reminding them of their obligation to obey the laws and regulations of their country of asylum.

There are 26,967 Liberians officially registered as refugees in Ghana - most live in Buduburam refugee camp. From October 2004 to June 2007 UNHCR ran a major repatriation programme for Liberian refugees who has fled to various West African countries during a brutal civil war. Some 105,000 Liberian refugees returned home
under the programme.

Stories from the Field

For play-by-play updates on the developing crisis in Ghana, visit our coalition partner's website:

White Tara Productions

Buduburam Refugee Concerns International calls for Action to Protect the Human Rights of Refugees in Ghana; Crisis Escalating

This morning, Saturday March 22, reports are trickling in that an armed Ghanaian police force raided the Buduburam refugee settlement, arresting Liberian men, in an apparently random manner. The police allegedly beat young men playing basketball with batons, and raided the camp clinic, taking away people waiting for treatment. Men were taken from their homes - we have spoken to people who are currently hiding in the bush, locked into their houses, for fear of arrest by the Ghanaian authorities.

From eyewitness accounts, the arrests are arbitrary and unprovoked. We ask that the Ghanaian authorities immediately end what seems to be a campaign of unjustified, unconscionable arrest and detention of the Liberian refugee community at Buduburam. The Ghanaian authorities have been using the month-long peaceful protest by the women of Buduburam as a justification for their removal; however, the BBC admits that, “... [The Interior] Minister used false allegations to justify arrests", with relation to the arrests of March 17.

We, Buduburam Refugee Concerns International (a coalition of NGOs and individuals campaigning for the safeguarding of refugee rights in Ghana) are extremely concerned by the recent turn of events, and plead with the Ghanaian authorities to exercise restraint and to uphold refugee and human rights in this time of crisis.

Currently, 30 arrested men are at the Kotoka Airport in Accra, Ghana for immediate deportation. It is unknown if the police intend to make more arrests at this time. Desperation pervades throughout Buduburam and the Liberian community is in fear for their safety.

Hundreds of women and children that were arrested on Monday, March 17, 2008 still sit imprisoned in dire conditions. Although 90 of the most vulnerable detainees were returned to camp prior to the arrests of the men, the future of the remainder remains unknown. A March 20, 2008 (the 4^th full day of their detainment) article describes the deplorable conditions where the women and children are held. Reports of miscarriages, scorpion bites, and diarrhea are coming from the detainment center.

The situation grew out of a peaceful protest on camp, beginning February 19, 2008; several hundred Liberian women convened a peaceful “sit in” protest to call for increased assistance from the UNHCR. The government of Ghana became agitated by these protests and warned them to cease, but they persisted.

On, March 17, 2008, before dawn, the Ghanaian authorities arrived on camp, armed with AK47s and tear gas, to arrest over six hundred of protesters.

Their return to camp this morning to go after male members of the community, who did not participate in any protests, reveals the escalation of this crisis.

This morning’s events expose the dire circumstances of the refugee community in Ghana. As the crisis continues, the need for an immediate and peaceful resolution is increasingly clear. While the issue at hand concerns the estimated 26,974 Liberian who reside at the settlement, the total population is about 40,000, consisting of refugees from various African nations. All of their fates hang in the balance

Ghana must realize that the forcible removal of refugees from the country will not eliminate their responsibility. The international community is on alert and will demand accountability for these egregious human rights violations.

Please view the petition and its nearly 600 signatories at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/LiberianRefugees/

View more information at www.theniapeleproject.org and www.whitetara.org.

Telling you the Facts - Giving a Voice to the Voiceless

Here is a phone interview with a refugee spokesperson for the women's movement, Cecelia Garlo - thanks tons to White Tara Productions who put this together in no time at all.

Don't forget to sign the online petition calling for the safeguarding of the rights of refugees in Ghana!

600 refugee women and children facing deportation - action required

Following the recent events, a group of NGOs and individuals who work and have worked in the Buduburam refugee settlement have come together to call on the international community to insure that the rights of all refugees in Ghana are upheld.

We are gravely concerned for the fate of the 600 detained refugee women and children, who are facing imminent deportation - we humbly ask for your support in order to press authorities to respect the rights of refugees.

Please click here to sign the petition calling on authorities to uphold the rights of refugees in Ghana

We will pass it on to authorities very shortly.

On behalf of the Liberian refugees in Ghana, thank you for your support.

The Niapele Project Team

Stories from the Field - exposing the truth

We, at The Niapele Project, are completely appalled by the lack of journalistic (dare we say "human"?) integrity displayed in the media coverage of the current situation in the Buduburam refugee settlement.

Here is the latest update from Jessica Leombruno, who managed to get her hands on official documents released by the UNHCR as well as the Ghanaian Ministry of Interior last week, prior to the dramatic events of March 17th.

For a bit of context, they were released on the day that the 20 Liberian representatives went to Accra. That day, they met with a UNHCR representative (I believe the same one that is mentioned in the documents), and Ghanain authorites - Ministry of Interior and police chief, I believe. MD [a Liberian refugee who runs an NGO that works to improve the livelihoods of Ghanaian farmers,ndlr] was one of the 20 representatives. He told me that when they arrived, they were searched at gun point (while the press was made to stay outside, of course) and there were armed guards present during the meeting as well. While no compromise was actually reached, MD was encouraged by their response to integration into Ghana. He said that in response to their concerns about integration, the Ghanaian representatives adamently agreed that integration was not a possibility and that they had no interest in integrating the Liberian population either.
The representatives returned to camp feeling that they had made a significant advancement - at least integration was off the table. Upon returning to the camp though, the following press releases/documents were circulating - condeming the refugees for thier unwillingness to integrate. What an obvious difference between what people are willing to say when there is no one there (besides refugees) to substaniate what they are saying and what they release publicly

Apologies for the poor quality of the documents below - but you can click on the images for a larger view:




Please share these stories - post them on Facebook, on your blog, email your friends....

Hundreds of women and children are facing an immediate threat of unjust deportation - we need your help to make sure that the truth is exposed, and that the rights of refugees are being safeguarded.

Stay tuned for more information....

Stories from the Field - update

While we wait for an update from Jess, here is a link with the most updated news concerning the situation at the Buduburam refugee settlement.

We will continue to monitor this story, and provide you with the most accurate coverage possible.

Stories from the Field

An update from Jessica on the current situation in the Buduburam refugee settlement -
Stay tuned for regular updates!

At about 4am today, the Ghanaian police showed up to camp armed with machine guns and tear gas - luckily they never used either, but still - I consider it to be unnecessary force... They arrested a couple hundred of the women. No one knows exactly how many, but I have heard from several different people (including Mark [ARCH staff member, ndlr] who was there when it happened) that there were 5 buses (big buses, not the tro tro size) and 2 trucks that they filled with women. They went along willingly and the police even had to refuse women from getting arrested (they were all volunteering to go ! ) Apparently 8 women got minor injuries - there is conflicting information over how it happened. Some people are saying it was the confusion and people were moving around too quickly, but Mark told me that one of the officers used a beat stick on one of the women. I have even heard that one woman gave birth on the way to the police station!

Overall things remained calm during the ordeal and no real violence broke out, which I am very shocked about. But after they left with the women [one of which is Doris, the head cook at the School Feeding Program] hundreds of additional women went to the field. I went there around 10 this morning and there must have been at least 600 or 700 people there. The Ministry of Interior is saying that when the numbers of women decrease a bit, they wil be back to arrest more of them. They are also threatening to prosecute all arrested women and deport them back to Liberia as criminals.

As you can imagine, tensions on camp are a bit high at the moment and all possibility of normal work is pretty much stopped. Even the markets were empty today cause many of the market women were arrested.

EABJM ISound Concert for Niapele!

The Ecole Active Bilinge Jeannine Manuel is generously organizing this concert to benefit The Niapele Project - thanks to the EABJM for their continued support!

Images of Buduburam

Click here for recent photos of the women's protest in Buduburam We continue to monitor the situation, and will bring you regular updates!

Stories from the Field

Today is International Women's Day, and, coincidentally, we have the perfect story to share with you to mark the occasion.

This is our first "Stories from the Field" feature - we hope to shed light on the reality of life as a refugee through these occasional stories.


By Jessica Leombruno, Field Coordinator, The Niapele Project

Hundreds of women are staging a peaceful sit-in on the roadside soccer field of Buduburam refugee camp. With each day, the women's movement is growing. What started as five women facing the road with illegible signs, has grown to a force of hundreds of woman and children. They sit outside all day under the hot Ghanaian sun, sleep outside with the relentless mosquitos and dance through thunder storms.

The women are trying to draw the attention of the world community, or at the very least, the attention of the UNHCR. They are requesting that each repatriated refugee be given $1000 to return home with. Their hope is that this money will be enough to start a new life in Liberia - to buy a house, food, water, pay school fees, perhaps even start a small business. During other rounds of repatriation the UNHCR had been giving each returning refugee a laughable sum - $5, a bag of rice, a gallon of oil, and a blanket. Not surprisingly, many of those people quickly ended up in Liberian IDP settlements. After all, how can anyone expect a refugee to return to a war afflicted country after 5, 10, or 15 years with $5, little or no family, no place to call home, and no one to turn to for support? Despite this, I seriously doubt the women will be able to achieve their demands. By many estimates, there are still 35,000 Liberian refugees at Buduburam. Giving each individual amounts to $35,000,000. Given UNHCR's relative disinterest in Buduburam in recent years, there is little evidence to indicate that they would even consider meeting the demands of the women.

Nevertheless, the UNHCR is aware of the women's protest and have taken steps to respond. A representative visited the camp recently, but was reported to have not taken the protest seriously. He sited the fact that the schools were still in session, the markets were running, and life on camp was pretty much business as usual. In turn, the women responded by asking every school on camp to close, and asking the markets to close by noon each day. I was shocked to see that these changes took place rather quickly. Many people foresee the protests lasting through the end of the month at the very least. Considering the momentum the movement gains each day, I would not be surprised in the slightest.