By Ebenezer Hanson
The Minister for Interior, Hon. Kwamena Bartels, has dared Human Rights Activists who have threatened court action against the Government for allegedly trampling upon the rights of Liberian Refugees to execute their intention as he ever ready to meet them there.
He says he is at a loss as to why the so-called Human Rights Defenders kept their silence when some of the refugees were violating the rights of their other vulnerable Liberians such as the aged, the sick and children.
“Where were the Human Rights Activists when school prevented from going to school? Where the Rights Activists when these refugees were preventing others from receiving their food ration? Where were they when some the women were stripping naked on the street? ”he demanded answers.
Hon. Bartels was responding to a questioner at a news conference in Accra, who wanted his reaction to court threats from some Human Rights Activists over the recent Liberian Refugee crisis at the Buduburam Refugee Settlement near Kasoa in the Central Region.
On whether all the Liberians would be repatriated including those with Ghanaian spouses, the Minister said they are entitled to apply to be citizens of Ghana by reason of marriage and their requested would be granted if they meet the laid down requirements.
He disclosed that he had not received any report of harassment of Ghanaian women around the Buduburam Refugee Settlement; nonetheless he would ask the Police to investigate an allegation that was brought to his notice.
Similarly, he said he has heard cases of threats of harassment against Ghanaians in Liberia but have not received any report that these threats have been carried out.
He disclosed that Government has decided that all Liberian refugees in Ghana return home “ especially since they themselves have stated categorically that they do not want integration into then Ghanaian society and that they will resist local integration with all their might”.
Government, he said, would no longer tolerate the situation where people who have been given our hospitality continue to undermine the security of the State.
“ Our national security is supreme and shall not be compromised on any account. Refugees have a responsibility to respect our laws as well as refrain from subversive activities against the State, which has given them a home for then last 18 years,” he stressed.
He said it has been agreed that a Tripartite Committee consisting of Ghana, Liberia and UNHCR be established to work out the practical modalities for repatriation of the Liberian Refugees in Ghana. In addition, it has been decide that the Buduburam Settlement be dispersed and settled in smaller communities for the better management and monitoring.
In an interview, Jos Garneo Cephas, a Liberian photojournalist with the Daily Guide said although he shares the concerns of the National Coalition of Human Rights, he thought their intention of taking the Government to court was too hasty a decision.
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1 comment:
of curiosity, what people were denied food rations? Food rations from whom? Where the food is distributed and this protest took place are not one and the same location- they are rather far from one another. Very few people actually receive food rations, and that has been the case for several years now.
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