US embassy cable - 05ACCRA800

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Identifier:	05ACCRA800
Wikileaks:	View 05ACCRA800 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Accra
Created:	2005-04-28 16:53:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Tags:	GH TO BN PREF
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS ACCRA 000800 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GH, TO, BN, PREF 
SUBJECT: SERIOUS REFUGEE FLOWS OUT OF TOGO BEGIN 
 
1.  (SBU)  According to UNHCR Representative Rafik Saiki, who 
is based in Cotonou, some 4,000 refugees have arrived in 
Benin from Togo as of 16:00 local on April 28.  A number of 
NGO's, including Catholic Relief Services, were assisting the 
new arrivals as they crossed the border, most of whom had 
fled on foot over unpatrolled stretches of the frontier. 
Refugees were taking shelter in private homes, churches, and 
at Camp Come.  The GOB had been very cooperative, said Saidi, 
but it lacked the resources to be of much help.  Saidi noted 
that the international border had reopened earlier in the 
day, leading him to believe that even greater numbers of 
Togolese could follow. 
 
2.  (U)  On the Ghanaian side, some 450 Togolese have arrived 
in small groups at various points along the border. 
According to UNHCR Representative Thomas Albrecht, all have 
found shelter in private homes and no extraordinary measures 
have been required.  UNHCR contacts here have heard, but have 
not confirmed, that the GOT has armed its border guards with 
automatic weapons and that several cross-border incidents 
have occurred during which Ghanaians have been injured. 
YATES 
 
 
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