Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ACCRA2039
2004-10-15 09:46:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

A VISIT TO GHANA'S BUDUMBURAM REFUGEE CAMP

Tags:  PREF PREL GH LI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 002039 

SIPDIS

FOR REFUGEE AND POLITICAL OFFICERS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL GH LI
SUBJECT: A VISIT TO GHANA'S BUDUMBURAM REFUGEE CAMP

REF: Accra 1921

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 002039

SIPDIS

FOR REFUGEE AND POLITICAL OFFICERS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL GH LI
SUBJECT: A VISIT TO GHANA'S BUDUMBURAM REFUGEE CAMP

REF: Accra 1921

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ref Coord's visit on October 6 to the Budumburam
refugee camp near Accra revealed an atmosphere of utter calm that
debunked some press claims that its residents were huddled in a
state of fear under "martial law." Most Liberian residents, who by
all appearances are adequately clothed and fed, remain skeptical of
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR]-assisted
repatriation program [reftel], preferring instead to resettle in the
U.S. or even to obtain permanent residence status in Ghana. The
camp is regarded as one of the best administered in the region,
although some problems remain with the availability of potable
water, trash removal, education, and other areas. END SUMMARY.

--------------
All Quiet in the Camp
--------------


2. (SBU) In response to spectacular articles that appeared in both
the Washington Times and local Ghanaian newspapers suggesting that
martial law had been imposed at the Budumburam refugee camp, Ref
Coord on October 6 visited the sprawling settlement located in
Accra's western outskirts. The reportedly "imposing" military
presence consisted solely of a five-man checkpoint along the coastal
highway near the entrance to the camp. Once inside, an ambience of
life-as-usual prevailed. UNHCR Protection Officer Jane Muigai told
Ref Coord that initially the checkpoint had caused some anxiety
within the camp because of the refugees' negative experiences in
other countries with the military. She confirmed that nothing
resembling martial law had ever been imposed upon the camp.


3. (U) Budumburam is different from many other refugee camps
because of the urban origin of the majority of its inhabitants.
About 70 percent of the 42,000 residents hail originally from
Monrovia and its environs; consequently, they had higher levels of
education and income prior to fleeing Liberia. The camp
administrator, a Ghanaian, told Ref Coord that Budumburam is
popularly regarded as the most "prestigious" destination to which a
refugee in West Africa can aspire.

--------------
Conditions Reasonably Good
--------------


4. (SBU) Budumburam, evaluated in terms of the seven traditional
criteria used to evaluate refugee camps, is doing relatively well.


SHELTER: There are some 5,000 small shelters at the camp with an
average occupancy of eight family members. Most dwellings have
concrete floors and walls with tin roofs, although a few structures
were built using wood. While not meeting the internationally
accepted Sphere standards, the structures do provide basic shelter
from the rain and privacy. Of the camp's twelve zones, three have
spread beyond the camp's traditional boundaries set by the GOG in

1990. In two of these zones, refugees rent homes from their
Ghanaian neighbors; in the third zone, refugees live rent-free with
the understanding that the houses they have built will be ceded to
the property owners when the refugees depart. Rents in the
Budumburam area are reportedly among the highest [per square meter]
in the greater Accra area.

HEALTH: St. Gregory's Clinic continues to operate on-site; a new
wing with three additional rooms was finished earlier this year.
Medecins Sans Frontieres provides intermittent staffing, with an
additional French doctor residing full-time in the camp. The
facility includes a lab that was added in 2002. AIDS awareness
programs and immunization campaigns supplement the overall health
program in the camp. Refugees pay twenty cents per consultation, a
token fee that rises to one dollar if the appointment takes place
after hours.

Garbage collection and removal continues to be problematic, despite
UNHCR's recent purchase of two garbage trucks. A large amount of
refuse strewn about the camp tainted an otherwise orderly picture of
normalcy as defined in the West African context. Moreover, there is
only one toilet per 50 residents, versus the Sphere standard of one
per 22. Drainage in the low-lying camp is inadequate. Potable
water is only available by purchasing large, 5-gallon drums;
however, despite hopes of closing the camp by the end of 2006, UNHCR
has commissioned a feasibility study that could result in the
drilling of four wells.

NUTRITION: Ref Coord did not witness any indications of significant
malnutrition, e.g., grossly underweight children or distended
bellies. On the contrary, a sizeable minority of the refugees was
overweight. Earlier in 2004, the UN's World Food Program began a
food distribution campaign targeting unaccompanied minors, the
elderly, single mothers, the chronically ill, and the handicapped.
Other refugees have the opportunity to grow small plots of
vegetables.

GBV: The incidence of gender-based violence has reportedly
decreased markedly over the past year, having fallen from four cases
per month in 2003 to the current average of only one case per month.
Unfortunately, domestic violence remains problematic.

SECURITY: Since the UNHCR re-assumed responsibility for Budumburam
in 1992, following a two-year lapse, it has trained 350 volunteer
neighborhood watchers. In addition to a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew,
the camp has installed more lighting at night to enhance security,
and there is a modest Ghanaian police presence. Judging from the
lack of complaints to Ref Coord or to UNHCR, these measures appear
to have been effective in providing refugees with a secure
environment. Privately, some neighborhood watchers complained to us
that UNHCR was not offering them any salary.

EDUCATION: There are a number of schools within the camp serving
the 14,000 school-age children. Still, about 20 percent of primary
school-age children do not attend classes, with an even higher
percentage of non-attendance among those of high school age. [N.B.
This compares favorably with Ghanaian school enrollment figures of
only 58 percent at the primary school level.] At least one NGO
offers technical training in Budumburam in fields such as carpentry,
while the German government offers 70 university scholarships each
year. Those with the means to do so may attend Ghanaian educational
institutions outside the camp.

INCOME GENERATION: There are no official employment statistics, but
Budumburam is a constant bustle of activity. The GOG's refusal to
grant them work permits has not prevented many refugees from working
informally as brick makers, carpenters, shoe repairmen, farmers,
fishermen, and general laborers, either at the camp or in Accra. A
large number run small retail shops. Remittances are undergirding
much of the refugee economy: Western Union has an affiliate at
Budumburam that receives USD 400,000 per month, with a similar
amount going to Liberian refugees visiting the Accra branch,
according to the Agricultural Bank's Country Director. At one
extreme, Ref Coord learned of one young man who simply pockets his
cash from abroad every month and spends his time loitering at the
camp's entertainment center, rather than studying or working. That
the GOG allows freedom of movement, rather than confining refugees
behind barbed wire, is certainly a prime factor in accounting for
the camp's vitality.

-------------- --------------
Repatriation, Resettlement, or Local Integration?
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) A two-hour meeting with 30 Liberian refugees, including
representatives of the refugee council and its internal security
team, focused on the UNHCR-assisted repatriation program to Liberia.
Most refugees are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward returning
home, but several expressed a clear preference for resettlement
elsewhere. Some would opt for local integration, if given the
opportunity; one refugee, for example, arrived in Budumburam in 1990
at the age of nine. He thus felt no particular attachment to
Liberia and would prefer to remain permanently in Ghana.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


6. (SBU) The first assisted repatriation on October 1 was limited
to a small group that had friends and relatives in Monrovia who
could offer them immediate shelter. As the situation in Liberia's
capital city improves, a modest outflow from Budumburam will likely
continue, although some refugees seem determined to remain in Ghana
as long as possible. Over the medium term, we expect that
traditional Ghanaian hospitality toward the refugee population will
continue despite occasional grumbling. GOG expenditures on behalf
of the refugees are minimal, whereas the economic impact of the
remittances -- together with the salaries and rents paid on behalf
of the burgeoning local and expatriate staff involved in refugee
assistance -- is considerable.


7. (SBU) The Ghanaian welcome mat is, however, not sustainable
over a longer period of time. Veronica Ankomah-Tutuh, a member of
the Ghana Refugee Board and head of an NGO that offers assistance to
refugees, told Ref Coord privately that about two-thirds of
Ghanaians oppose the continued presence of refugees, who many
perceive - fourteen years after their first arrival in Ghana -- as
having worn out their welcome. Thus, it is little wonder that UNHCR
is making plans to repatriate or resettle all Liberian refugees by
the end of 2006, in the hopes of reducing the total refugee
population in Ghana from 48,000 to 6,000. Despite the desire of
some Liberian refugees to settle in Ghana, legislation to grant
refugees permanent residence is not in the cards and would not play
well with the Ghanaian electorate during this election year.

LANIER