Living
without a safety net of services is a harsh reality. The
United Nations, which originally created the refugee camp in 1990’s,
no longer provides outreach programs. The host country ignores
the refugees, except to collect higher fees for services and commodities.
On their own, Liberians do participate in their own schools, churches,
marketplaces, and computer classes. Yet the possibilities for paid
work or higher education are non-existent. The refugees wait
for their turn.
“Back home, my wife and I had good jobs, by Liberian standards,” says
Daniel, an economist and reluctant refugee. “We owned a TV
and a refrigerator. We wanted to return to college.” Daniel
and his family used to live in the African middle-class. Daniel
earned his Bachelor’s degree at the onset of civil unrest.
The family left their good jobs and
homeland in 2002, at the start of fresh violence. After a four-day
trek overland, the family faced “appalling” conditions
at Buduburam. In addition to the squalor, refugees had to pay for
all basic services.
In time, the family became UN–registered refugees. Since
Daniel had no relatives in his country of choice—the USA—or
a medical emergency, he was denied Priority One refugee status
and a visa out. He and his family of six were forced to rely
on a monthly stipend from his American friends. He seeks a US visa
to work at present.
“I am used to a professional life. Here I do manual labor,” says
Daniel. Yet he rarely complains. He is a man of faith, resilient
and a family man. But his dreams are deferred. He confides quietly —“I
wish we were in America by now.”
Refugee life is hard work. Without
electricity and running water, Daniel and other refugees carry
out daily manual labor to transport essentials like food, water
jugs, charcoal and kerosene to their small mud brick homes. Monthly,
a 100-pound bag of rice accompanies the family diet. Daniel built
his own two-room home using heavy mud bricks, a tin roof, and
a coat of whitewash. He makes and sells mud bricks within the
camp to complement his monthly US stipend.
The misery and poverty of the camp
contrasts sharply with the chic and stable host country. Accra,
the capital, appears alive and affluent, a world just fifty miles
away. To the local taxi drivers, the camp is known as “Liberia” or “Little
Liberia”. The refugees are sometimes considered pariahs by
other West Africans. To local officials, Liberians are “self-sufficient.” The
refugee Liberians are painfully aware of these misperceptions.
“I want a better life for my family, including the education
of my two daughters and niece. My own life-long dream is a Master’s
in Public Policy,” says Daniel. He will not give up. Yet at
46, by African standards he is aging.
Solutions
for Buduburam are possible, yet unrealistic. The United Nations could upgrade its services
to the camp and set up a decent infrastructure for the overcrowded
city it has become. The newly elected government in Ghana could
mandate more opportunities to integrate Liberian refugees into
civil society. More non-government
agencies could get involved and empower refugees to participate
in their own destiny. Repatriation to Liberia needs to be completed
only when a safe haven is present and disarmament finished. Finally,
immigration laws since 9/11 in the US should not only secure borders,
but open doors to progressive, inclusive and less restrictive policies.
Meanwhile, each morning at Buduburam,
the rooster awakens the refugees to another day of waiting—for
a way out.
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Daniel
on the situation at Buduburam, May 2005:
...Let
me explain to you what happened on Buduburam Refugee
Camp here in recent times.
It
was some time last week when a team of UN staff (we understand
from Geneva) visited the camp to assess conditions here. But
earlier the camp management, headed by a Ghanaian, had tried
to conceal from the team certain things about the camp. The team
was misinformed that all was well with Liberian refugees in Ghana.
It was alleged that the camp management lied to the team that
refugees were benefiting from free food rations, free water,
free electricity, free education, free medical care, and so on.
Fortunately,
the UN Team decided to carry on an independent investigation
into all that was told them by the camp management, at which
time refugees had the opportunity to refute many claims. The
fact is that refugees here pay for almost every item received
or service rendered, including the use of latrines constructed
by UNHCR. It was even shocking to the UN Team to hear that
rice sent for Liberian refugees was being converted to corn before
distribution, knowing fully well that Liberians prefer rice
to corn. Further, the refugees accused the camp management and
UNHCR-Ghana of intentionally creating unnecessary bottlenecks
in the resettlement program only to create travel opportunities
for Ghanaians. They do this by declaring refugee applicants
unqualified but use their files to replace them with Ghanaian
nationals.
These
developments caused refugees to be annoyed with camp management.
There was so much tension last Friday that refugees almost went
on rampage. Trucks of riot police were deployed. Fortunately,
the police arrived after a heavy down-pour of rain had disbursed
the crowd. Since then, UNHCR had been holding consultative
meetings with both camp management and representatives of refugees
for settlement of issues. We now await outcome of these meetings
and you shall be informed accordingly.
It’s Daniel
Daniel
at the Buduburam Camp, March 26, 2005:
Happy Easter.
The family here is doing fine.
We have been undergoing series of censuses at the camp. The main
reason behind the census is not known but it's speculated that
it's meant to identify refugees actually on the camp after a number
of repatriation exercises for Monrovia. Secondly, it's to help
reconcile refugees figures considering those present, the repatriated
and resettled refugees. Another view is that they are using elimination
strategy.
UNHCR is still releasing lists of refugees for resettlement
to US, Norway, Australia, etc. But the selection process is
not based on application or sponsorship. It's solely conducted
by UNHCR based on information gathered during the ID card process. Recently,
I sought advice from one UNHCR worker who by himself may not be
able to influence anything, but advised that we seek to re-initiate
the process through the UNHCR counselling office on the camp. He
suggested that during the counselling process, re-submission of our
story (modified version) can be done. With this advice we
are now seeking application for counselling but the process is
very slow. We first have to obtain and complete a counselling form.
The forms are issued once a week in limited number. I usually
join the queue as early as 5:00am just to get one but have
not been fortunate to be among the first 20. I keep trying and
will let you know as soon as we can get one. In the mean time,
repatriation exercise is ongoing.
Note: this should in no way relax the H1B visa process. It's the
priority right now...
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