Chairman of the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB), Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, has stated that Ghana remains committed to its obligation to ensure the safety and dignity of refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
Professor Attafuah, who is also the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), said this during the 73rd Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland.
He further disclosed that the GRB and NIA, in collaboration with the UNHCR, are taking steps to ensure that refugees are registered and issued with the National Identity Card soon.
This, he indicated, had become a mandatory requirement for all nationals and residents in accessing various services and facilities in the country.
“Some of these facilities include banking and financial transactions, accessing social security, insurance and healthcare, paying taxes, applying for a driver’s license, registering an interest in land, and registering a SIM card,” Professor Attafuah said.
Professor Attafuah added that the issuance of the Ghana Card to refugees is a major step aimed at guaranteeing social and financial inclusion for all refugees.
“Our policy is that whoever they are, wherever they come from, wherever they find themselves within Ghana and at whatever time, refugees must be able to access services at the same levels as their Ghanaian hosts. This is what we aim to achieve as a refugee-hosting country,” he added.
Protecting refuges
On the safety and dignity of refugees and asylum seekers in Ghana, Professor Attafuah said Burkinabe nationals who had sought refuge in Ghana due to the security situation in their country are being accorded the needed protection by the state.
He reiterated that Ghana continues to live up to its obligations in this regard. He stressed that regardless of the interrelationships that exist across the country’s borders and the already frequent seasonal movements into Ghana by Burkinabes to engage in livelihood activities, “Ghana will register Burkinabe nationals and continue to guarantee international protection for those who have crossed into our country to seek asylum”.
Assurance
He also assured that the Akufo-Addo administration will properly decommission the Buduburam Refugee Camp in a safe, secure, humane and efficient manner, consistent with domestic and international laws and Ghana’s human rights obligations.
According to him, Ghana has taken note of the special appeal to the UNHCR by the Government of Liberia to assist with the repatriation of Liberian refugees from Ghana.
He, however, noted that, as reported last year, the GRB had successfully intervened to stop the planned decommissioning of the Buduburam Refugee Camp in September 2021. This, he said, used to host Liberian refugees from 2003, but now serves as unauthorized home to some former Liberian refugees and Ghanaian nationals.
“Some of the Liberians had benefited from voluntary repatriation but have returned to Ghana and to the Buduburam Camp at their own accord. High-level meetings have since been held between Ghana and Liberia and a roadmap developed to repatriate the non-refugee Liberians from the former camp to Liberia,” he said.
He added that Ghana remains committed to ensuring that the former Liberian refugees are duly repatriated to Liberia in a safe and humane manner, subject to the availability of funding from the appropriate quarters.
Commendation
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, expressed delight over the concept of including refugees in the acquisition of the Ghana Card, and enabling them to access diverse facilities and services.
He expressed appreciation for Ghana’s handling of the influx of Burkinabe nationals seeking refuge in Ghana because of the security situation in their country.
Bemoaning the situation, Mr Grandi added that when refugees start to move to coastal areas, it justifies “the concern and provides one more reason to invest more to bring to an end or to improve the situation”.
He also lauded Ghana for being “one of the main actors in bringing to a close the situation of the Ivorian refugees with the invocation of the Cessation Clause” and other measures.
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