Conflict and war have been a feature of life in West Africa for decades. Major conflicts in the region, such as the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone and instability in Cote D'Ivoire , have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and resulted in nearly 1.5 million refugees and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
IRC Regional Director, Robin Dunn Marcos, worked in the region in the late eighties and early nineties and knows the region well. This fall, Robin was part of a delegation that traveled to West Africa to observe refugee-processing procedures and strengthen connections between domestic resettlement offices and overseas offices.
The first stage of the trip was in the city of Conakry , Guinea . While in Guinea the team met with representatives from UNHCR, IRC, and the Liberian and U.S. Embassies. The team also made home visits to urban refugees and a site visit to IRC's Unaccompanied Minor's Transit Center .
The estimated 100,000 refugees living in Guinea are mostly located along the Guinean border and in urban areas. Approximately 40,000 refugees living in Conakry were ordered to report to refugee camps or return home by August 31, 2003 , or risk detention and deportation.
The team then traveled to Accra , Ghana to meet with a variety of organizations including UNHCR Ghana Representative, the Ghana Refugee Board, the U.S. Embassy, the United Kingdom Resettlement Program, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) Accra , and a visit to the Buduburam Refugee Camp.
In Ghana , the refugee situation is not as bleak as in Guinea . Ghana is host to over 50,000 asylum seekers and refugees, primarily from the Ivory Coast , Liberia and Sierra Leone . The largest camp in the area, Buduburam, is home to approximately 41,853 Liberian refugees. This camp not only hosts an active health clinic, daycare facility, and numerous women's groups, but also has a number of local businesses. UNHCR has described the camp as a success story of how refugees can build thriving communities. However, the camp is well over its 10,000-person capacity, and overcrowding has taken its toll on food, sanitation, safety, and housing resources.
Lastly, the team traveled to London and met with UNHCR and the British Home Office, the equivalent of the United States ' State Department. In 2003 the British government announced its plans to resettle 500 refugees, primarily from West Africa . The team offered insights and shared information in regards to processing refugees in West Africa and offered pointers and shared orientation information with the staff of the IRC-UK office.
The IRC also sent field delegations to Thailand , East Africa , and Costa Rica . Upon the delegate's return, reports documenting observations and recommendations were submitted to the IRC headquarters in New York . Parts of the report have been shared with the State Department, Congressional Representatives and the Department of Homeland Security to continue to work with our government officials in improving the plight of refugees and to ease their access to durable solutions.
