Two hundred and twenty-four Togolese who have arrived in Ghana to seek asylum from political unrest in their country are struggling with accommodation.
The refugees, currently at Chereponi in the Northern Region, are living on the benevolence of some local people who have offered their homes to the Togolese.
So far, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has registered 502 Togolese refugees who entered Ghana through Cherepone.
The first batch of 95 asylum seekers arrived in Cherepone on October 25, 2017, and the number according to the District NADMO Coordinator, Emmanuel Kojo Manu, continue to surge by the day.
Currently, those lucky to get accommodation from NADMO are being housed in a building that used to serve as a Resource Centre for Persons Living With Disabilities.
The women and children among them are being accommodated in an uncompleted building. They have been provided mosquito net.
Mohammed Shafatu, a mother of three, has not been able to secure a permanent accommodation and moves from one house to the other for shelter.
She recounted how they had to travel on foot from Togo to Cherepone in Ghana through unapproved routes noting “I only could pick my children; I carried one at my back and the two had to walk through the woods with me. It took us 12hours to arrive in Chereponi”.
Shafatu was not happy that his children are now not in school due to their current situation, saying “they cry anytime they see the children here going to school”.
Another refugee, Nabeimah Ayishetu told TV3 their current circumstance has forced her to do casual work to feed herself and her two children.
“I leave my children in the care of some residents to go work on farms of residents as my means of survival because I left my country with just this dress I am wearing and no money because I needed to run for my life as the security began brutalizing us” she stated.
The Chereponi District Assembly provided the refugees five bags of rice, few mosquito nets, and mats when they arrived.
Also, District Chief Executive, Abdul-Razak Tahidu, has directed the refugees be given free medical care whenever they fall sick.
He has meanwhile called for support for the refugees, especially in the area of accommodation and food.
Meanwhile, the UNCHR and the Ghana Refugees Board have arrived in the district to assess the situation.
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