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:
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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....
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