NADMO overstretched in resources

March 18, 2011
Elubo (W/R), March 18, GNA — The National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr. Kofi Portuphy, has said the arrival of 16,700 and 7,000 Ghanaian returnees from Libya and Cote d'Ivoire respectively has overstretched NADMO in terms of resources.

He has therefore appealed to the donor community to provide support in the form of medicine, clothing, tents, food, mattresses and other materials that could sustain NADMO to provide basic necessities of life to the returnees.

Mr. Portuphy said the Immigration Service border post at Elubo had registered 690 refugees who had fled from the heightened political tension in the Cote d'Ivoire and out of the figure, 637 were at the Eagle Star reception centre at Elubo as at Wednesday morning and were being screened and processed for evacuation

Mr. Portuphy said this during visits to Nkroful, Ampain, Eagle Star reception centre at Elubo and Elubo border post on Thursday, to check on the refugee situation in those areas.

He said 28 acres of land had been acquired at Ampain in the Ellembelle District to be used as refugee camp.

The NADMO chief said 10 acres had been cleared for tents and toilet facilities would be put in place for the refugees.

Mr. Portuphy said the refugee camp at Ampain would be ready in the next three days so that asylum seekers who were temporarily accommodated at the UNJHCR Eagle Star reception centre at Elubo could be evacuated to the place.

He said the reception centre was for screening and processing and asylum seekers were not supposed to stay there for more than 48 hours.

Mr. Portuphy said although the NADMO was constrained, it would do everything humanly possible to provide the basic necessities of life to the returnees.

Mr. Portuphy said NADMO would establish five refugee camps in the regions that share border with the Cote d'Ivoire.

"We have been preparing for the past five months and received inputs from other relevant agencies such as the Ghana Refugee Board, the Catholic Secretariat, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA and other NGOs on how to provide humanitarian services to potential asylum seekers in Ghana."

At Eagle Star reception centre at Elubo, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Protection Associate at the camp, Ms Mavis Abo, briefed the NADMO boss about the challenges encountered at the camp.

She said they needed a mobile clinic to provide medical assistance to some refugees since some had fallen sick and had been taken to the Elubo Health Post.

Ms Abo said they also need more volunteers to assist the UNHCR staff at the centre saying some of the refugees are nurses, teachers and other professionals and that the Commission would tap their experience and services.

At the Elubo Border Post, an Assistant Director of the Immigration Service, Mr Felix Sarpong, said the refugees were made up nationals from Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal.

GNA