Buduburam

By Dana Binnendijk, Field Coordinator

The heat hits you hard upon arrival in Ghana at the Buduburam refugee camp, there is little relief besides the shade of the trees of the sporadic breeze if it has just rained.

Ayoka Productions has just released this documentary which clearly explains the situation faced by Liberian refugees in Ghana in recent months. The Niapele Project and Buduburam Refugee Concerns International collaborated with Ayoka Productions on this project, and we are proud to present it to you.

The ARCH family thanks YOU for your continued support!

Since the recent crisis that has been unfolding in the Buduburam refugee settlement, The Niapele Project has associated itself with a coalition of NGOs and individuals with ties to Buduburam in order to advocate on behalf of the refugee community. In order to offer a platform for news and resources, we have launched a new website, which we encourage you to visit - check it out here.

Dear friends and supporters of The Niapele Project,

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

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:

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.

White Tara Productions

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.