US embassy cable - 05ACCRA311

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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