Over 4,000 Burkinabes have fled to Ghana as a result of terrorist attacks.

Following attacks in Burkina Faso by suspected terrorists and militants, over 4,000 Burkinabes and some Ghanaians have fled to seek refuge in Ghana.

The refugees, mostly women and children, have fled from Burkina Faso’s trouble spots of Bugri, Zouga, and Asongo to seek asylum in the Upper East Region’s Bawku West District.

They currently reside in Adasiga, Soogo, Agoogo, Kperigu, and Kperigzousi in the Soogo Electoral Area, while others reside in Natinga, Googo, Weari, Kanlesi, and Fulbes in the Widnaba Electoral Area.

Some of them also live in communities within the Akasooga Electoral Area.

More than 1,000 refugees are currently residing in the Soogo Electoral Area, 1,773 in the Widnaba area, and 1,325 in the Akasooga Electoral Area.

The large number of refugees has put undue strain on food and social amenities in the areas, a development that continues to worry locals and requires immediate attention from duty bearers.

Atampuri Osben Asaki, Assembly Member for the Soogo Electoral Area, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the situation in the area was serious and required immediate attention.

Accommodation for Burkinabes

Because people on both sides of the border are largely related by tribe, the majority of the refugees (burkinabes) are currently living with local community members.

Others who could not be accommodated in the homes of the locals are forced to live in unfinished buildings and makeshift structures, exposing them to the vagaries of the weather.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of available homes, some children, including newborn babies and their nursing mothers, sleep in the open, especially during the day.

Assistance with disaster relief

Already, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has provided GH1.3 million in food and non-food items to the refugees through its grant support to the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Development Office (NABOCADO) of the Catholic Church.

Furthermore, the Bawku Naba, Zugraan Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, has donated bags of rice, maize, and used clothing to Burkinabe asylum seekers in the area in order to provide relief.

A serious situation exists.

Mr Asaki said the local people were overburdened since they had to share their meagre food and other facilities with the refugees (burkinabes), saying “due to the current situation, the families that the refugees are staying with have no option but to get extra food to feed them”.

“The local people are already impoverished, and the invasion of the communities by refugees has exacerbated their plight,” he said, emphasizing that “I wish to solicit assistance from the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).”

“The assistance will go a long way toward meeting some of the basic needs of the local people and refugees, who are currently struggling to feed themselves in the aftermath of terrorist attacks,” he said.

Elisha Abilla Afuugu, Assembly Member for the Widnaba Electoral Area, said locals were concerned that terrorists might be among the refugees, disrupting the area’s peace.

“Although there was fear and panic among the local people when the refugees invaded their communities, there is relative calm among the people, who continue to go about their daily social and economic activities,” he said.

He urged residents to be security conscious at all times and to report suspicious individuals and persons engaging in questionable activities to community leaders and security personnel for immediate action.

Meeting of REGSEC

Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has held a number of meetings to assess the security situation in border communities in order to strategize and implement counter-terrorism measures.

To prevent security breaches, the security agencies, which include the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, and the Ghana Armed Forces, have increased security in border communities.

Recurrence

More than 1,872 refugees, including Ghanaians, fled a troubled area in Burkina Faso in June last year to seek refuge in Ghana as a result of terrorist attacks by militants against local militia.

The majority of the refugees were children fleeing from Beriyale, a community in Burkina Faso where a recent suspected Jihadist attack killed two residents, one of whom left behind three wives and 13 children.

The majority of the refugees were housed in six camps in the Binduri District, where the district assembly provided temporary shelter structures.

The refugee camps were located in the communities of Issakatingen, Bansi Bulungu, Bansi Central, Yarigungu, Yalugu, and Kuloko.

Around 700 of the refugees who fled to Ghana as a result of the terrorist attack were camped at Gentinga in the Bawku municipality, while another 100 are now residing at Sapeliga in the Bawku West District.

Following ongoing chieftaincy-related clashes in their community, 275 Burkinabes fled to the northern part of Ghana as refugees in 2019.

Those refugees settled in the Bawku West District at Widnaba.

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