refugee rights

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.