8.7 C
London
Friday, March 29, 2024

Joint Military and Police swoop at the Buduburam Refugee Settlement

By Grace Princess Tarwo, GNA

Accra, Sept 12,
GNA – The Military and the Police, in the early hours of Thursday, conducted a
swoop at the Buduburam Refugee settlement in the Gomoa East District in the
Central Region to weed out criminals residing within the settlement and its
surrounding vicinity.

The operation,
which begun at 02:00 hours saw the security personnel going from door to door
to flush out some suspicious persons at the camp.

Rev Eddie
Devine Hennings, President of the Association of Liberian Community in Ghana
said, the swoop was a good exercise, adding that, criminals sought refuge at
the camp after committing crimes.

Speaking with
the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Rev Hennings said these criminals
mingled with the refugees and commit crimes, creating the impression that the
camp was harbouring criminals.

Rev Hennings
said the Liberian refugees residing at the camp were just a hand full and law
abiding, and that the exercise would not harm or affect them, assuring
residents that the Refugees among those arrested would be released after the
screening.

He however
said, the refugees were panicked because of the weapons being wielded by the
military personnel, which reminded them of their war experiences.

Rev Hennings
urged the Liberian refugees to be calm and that the authorities were only doing
their job.

Mr Arnold
Obidieh Obimpeh, Camp Manager at the Liberian Refugee Settlement said there was
no cause for alarm as the exercise was a normal routine by the Military and
Police and urged the refugees not to panic.

He said the
non-refugees outnumbered the refugees at the camp and this had been a challenge
for the camp management.

Mr Obimpeh
said, since the refugees had legal documents to back their status, and are not
criminals, there was no need to be alarmed, as the exercise was meant to fish
out criminals.

Mr Anthony Lee,
who resident of Area A, within the camp, where the exercise was mostly carried
out said some of them were wrongfully beaten by the Police officers, adding
that, some of them were sleeping when the officers knocked on their doors,
which scared them because they could not tell whether it was the police or
armed robbers.

Mr Lee said, he
is an integrated refugee who sought refuge in Ghana due to the security and
peace in the country, but was traumatised by the operation.

He pleaded with
the Ghana Refugee Board and the UNHCR to take action to secure their lives, as
such exercises could lead to brutalities on innocent people.

The swoop
affected all residents at the settlement and its surroundings, made up of not
only Liberians but also Ghanaians, Nigerians and other nationals.

GNA

Latest news

Related news