50,000 Togolese Refugees Return Home

Accra About 50,000 out of 135,000 Togolese refugees in Ghana have voluntarily returned home under a repatriation programme being implemented by the International Organisation of Migration. Another 3,465 of the remainder have registered to go home voluntarily, Nii Okaija Adamafio, Minister of the Interior, said today while opening the Third Quadripartite Meeting on the Voluntary Repatriation of Togolese Refugees in Accra. About 20 representatives from Ghana, Togo, Benin, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and collaborating agencies are attending. These include the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, Immigration, Police, the Refugee Board and the National Mobilization Programme. Nii Okaija said the decision to grant asylum to refugees from Togo and Liberia was not easy, bearing in mind the social and economic costs to the country. "We, however, accepted them in the true spirit of African solidarity and brotherliness". He assured the participants that the government will continue to do all in its power to ensure the safety and welfare of the refugees, but would "definitely not tolerate any acts of criminality on their part."