GOG AND UNHCR PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE INFLUX OF

UNCLAS ACCRA 000311

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

FOR POLOFFS, REFUGEE COORDINATOR, AF/W AND PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL GH TO
SUBJECT: GOG AND UNHCR PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE INFLUX OF
TOGOLESE REFUGEES


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The death of former President Eyadema
has added a new wrinkle to the historically troubled
relationship between Ghana and Togo - despite President
Kufuor's close relationship with the Eyadema family.
Anticipating trouble, several dozen Togolese have already
been observed trekking across Ghana's porous borders. GOG
officials and the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees [UNHCR] are formulating contingency plans in case
those numbers swell. Under consideration are two sites
located 50 kilometers from the Togolese border that could be
used for sheltering refugees in case violence or mass
arrests provoke, as in 1993, the exodus of thousands of
Togolese. End Summary.

Squabbling Sisters
--------------


2. (U) Historically, Ghana and Togo have had a troubled
relationship, with their shared Ewe tribe at the center of
tensions. This ethnic group includes former Ghanaian
President Jerry Rawlings and many of Togo's opposition
politicians, most notably Togolese opposition leader
Gilchrist Olympio, who was born in Ghana's Volta Region and
whose mother has retained Ghanaian citizenship. While in
power during the 1980's and 1990's, Rawlings was often
accused of encouraging the Togolese opposition, while
Togolese President Eyadema tried to undercut Rawlings'
support in Ghana. Both sides have been implicated in cross-
border violence that resulted in the deaths of President
Eyadema's wife, Togolese opposition figures resident in
Ghana, and Ghanaian officials manning a border post. For
more than a decade, the two countries did not have
diplomatic relations.


3. (U) The GOT crackdown in 1993 against innocent civilians
in Lome resulted in hundreds of thousands of Togolese
fleeing into Benin and Ghana. The GOG documented 150,000
refugees but the total number was closer to 250,000, since
many Ewes on the Ghanaian side of the border sheltered
Togolese in their homes. The GOG quickly set up a makeshift
refugee camp in Kriklo; unfortunately, its location close to
Ghana's eastern border made it subject to occasional
Togolese bombardment. Eventually, refugees were offered
permanent residence in Ghana, asylum in a third country, or
transportation to the Krisan refugee camp, near Ghana's
western border with Cote d'Ivoire. Some refugees chose to
move to Accra.

Close Ties in the Past Four Years
--------------


4. (U) Diplomatic relations were restored in 1994 and
improved further with the election in 2000 of Ghana's
President Kufuor, who had received support from Eyadema
during the election campaign. In addition to choosing Togo
as the venue for his first official foreign trip in 2001,
Kufuor has traveled regularly to the Eyadema family's home
village of Pya, attended the funeral of President Eyadema's
brother, and (unlike most high ranking members of the
diplomatic community) participated in annual celebrations
commemorating Eyadema's assumption of power (via a coup
d'etat). Moreover, as Chairman of ECOWAS from 2002 - 2004,
Kufuor never criticized Togo's human rights violations.

The Border
--------------


5. (U) Today, despite the improvement in relations between
Ghana and Togo, the border region remains a hotbed of
smuggling and other undocumented cross-border activity.
Some Ewes are known to farm land on one side of the frontier
and live on the other. Although the GOG maintains police
checkpoints between every village along the southernmost
stretch of the Ghana-Togolese border, they are ineffective
in deterring the smuggling of cheaper Togolese agricultural
produce and other items imported duty-free into Togo. Since
the 1956 plebiscite that led to the Volta Region joining
Ghana rather than Togoland, most Ewes have regarded the
frontier as an artificial demarcation line with little
relevance to where they work, shop, or live. Moreover, the
terrain, ranging from flat plains to rolling hills, poses
few obstacles to anyone intent on getting from one side of
the border to the other. On the Togolese side, the capital
city of Lome extends to the border crossing.

Another Togolese Exodus?
--------------


6. (SBU) The GOG is developing contingency plans for a
potential massive new influx of Togolese, if the current

political crisis in Togo heats up. During a joint GOG-UNHCR
retreat in the Volta Region from February 8 - 10, officials
toured the border and discussed possible sites - at least 50
kilometers from the border - for sheltering large numbers of
fleeing Togolese. Ref Coord has learned that two locations
within the Volta Region have been identified, but approval
was pending further discussion with the Volta Regional
Minister and tribal chiefs next week. Despite the inherent
difficulties in planning for the unpredictable, Ghana is
attempting to be somewhat better prepared to manage a
possible deluge of refugees. One member of Ghana's Refugee
Board expressed his satisfaction that the international
community, including ECOWAS, was keeping up the pressure on
the GOT; he hoped the Togo conundrum could be resolved
peacefully.

Comment
--------------


7. (SBU) Comment: Experts in Ghana who deal with refugees
are keeping a nervous eye fixed on Togo. We are encouraged
by their cooperation with the UNHCR in planning for
contingencies. If there is a large influx, Ewes on the
Ghanaian side of the border would welcome their "brothers
and sisters"; elsewhere, there would be more grumbling about
Ghana's open door policy toward refugees and GOG resources
could be strained.


8. (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Lome prior to
transmission.
YATES


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