The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, is to declare a UN level 1 emergency to help Ghana prepare adequately for the continuous influx of residents from Burkina Faso .
The UNHCR measure is also to put in place a contingency plan regarding impacts of happenings in Burkina Faso on Ghana.
The united nations high commission for refugees, UNHCR, the united nations agency for refugees and the Ghana refugee board, officially visited the Binduri and Bawku west districts of the upper east region to have first-hand information on the asylum seekers in that part of the country.
The team was saddened by the magnitude of the situation in hosting communities in terms of shelter, food, water and other essential needs.
Country representative for the UNHCR, Esther Kiragu, praised the hospitality of Ghanaian but insisted major steps are required to contain the situation.
the UNHCR has planned to declare a un level one emergency to help the country to prepare adequately and also put in place a contingency plan regarding effects on happenings in burkina faso on ghana.
It would also help the country, especially border communities, to be in the position to deal with the event of bigger numbers of refugees and provide relief to the victims and the host communities.
Esther Kiragu, Country Representative, UNHCR, made these known to the media when she led a team comprising members of UNHCR, the Ghana Refugee Board to some refugee camps at Sapeliga in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region.
The Country Representative explained that the refugee crisis put untold pressure on food, water and other social amenities in the communities and could worsen if the situation in Burkina Faso did not improve.
Next week, we will be having a stakeholder forum with government operatives in Accra from Ministry of the Interior, Ghana Refugee Board and authorities from Upper East and Upper West Regions, down to the districts to map out the kind of strategies we need to deal with the situation that is evolving in Burkina Faso,” she said.
Kiragu noted that the approach should involve a community based-approach with the host communities at the forefront of the responsive measures to ensure the welfare of the refugees and the communities were protected.
One pressing issue that will concern every parent is the young kids who are doing nothing. We will be using community-based approach to see how they can be absolved in school,” she added.
Tetteh Padi, Executive Secretary, Ghana Refugee Board, expressed gratitude to host communities and noted that the board would continue to work with stakeholders to respond to the needs of the refugees, especially providing them with interim needs, including water, shelter and food.
Naba Emmanuel Ayagiba Abangiba, Chief of Sapeliga, said for more than two years some Burkinabes had fled their homes to settle in the communities and the situation continued to pose security risk to the residents.
He said there was pressure on shelter, water and food among others as members of the
community had to host and care for some of the refugees in their homes and appealed for security to be strengthened along the border to provide support to the refugees to live better.
Currently, more than 4,000 Burkinabe have fled from Bugri, Zoago and Zabre and other areas, after their homes were attacked by suspected jihadists.
Many of the asylum seekers came to Ghana in the last one month when the situation had worsened.
Majority of the asylum seekers are women and children and spread across communities, including Widnaba, Soogo, Sapeliga, Kansoogo, Googo and Bansi in the Bawku municipal, Bawku west and Binduri districts.
By Peter Quao Adattor
