US embassy cable - 04ACCRA2039

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 002039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR REFUGEE AND POLITICAL OFFICERS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, GH, LI, refugees 
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