A four-member Government team led by Mr. Kobby Acheampong, Deputy Minister of the Interior, on Sunday visited Elubo in the Western Region, to ascertain the Ivorian refugee situation there. Other members of the group were Mr. Ken Dzirasah, Chairman of the Refugee Board, Dr. P.A.Wiredu, Director of Ghana Immigration Service, and Alhaji Salifu Osumana, Chief Director at the Ministry of the Interior. The team also visited the newly constructed Ampain and Elubo refugee camps and interacted with the Ivorian District Police Commissioner in-Charge of his country's side of the Elubo border, Madam Nguessan Assable. Mr. Acheampong told journalists at Ampain that the visit had brought to light the enormity of the refugee problem caused by the fighting in Cote d'Lvoire.
He said the Government of Ghana and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) would be expected to re-double efforts to be able to appreciably handle the situation. Mr. Acheampong said the Government would ensure that conditions at the refugees' camps were improved and that that there was the need to beef up security at the Elubo Border to prevent lapses. He said the team's interaction with Madam Assable was to find means of preventing Ivorian security personnel from unnecessary infiltrating the Ghana side of the border. Mr. Kelly Forson, Manager of Ampain Refugee Camp, told journalists that the site was accommodating 170 refugees in temporary tents.
He expressed the hope that construction of permanent structures that had begun at the camp would be completed before the rains set in. Mr. Forson said the camp had problem with electricity and water supply. At the Elubo Refugee Camp, Miss Marvis Abo, Field Officer of UNHCR, said the site was providing shelter for 548 refugees. She said refugees were transferred from the Elubo camp to the Ampain and other camps within 48 hours of their arrival because the area (Elubo camp) was closer to the border.
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