November 9, 2011

The Eagle Star Refugee Camp could be shut down by December this year after ex-combatants currently being housed there are transferred to other camps.

The need to relocate the camp comes after complaints by the Member of Parliament for Takoradi that the presence of the ex-combatants threatens the country’s security.

Following two unresolved murders at the nearby Ambenu refugee camp, the MP, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, blamed the deaths on the former fighters.

He wants government to as a matter of urgency repatriate the ex combatants.

He told Joy News if the government fails to relocate them, “it is going to be a mess if something goes wrong again. I believe that Ghana is on a time bomb, when it comes to the issue of the ex-combatants refugees from Ivory Coast after the election, and I believe government should work on it as quickly as possible”.

Meanwhile, the Manager of the Ambenu Refugee Camp, Kelly Forson explains to Joy News the UN statutes on refugees do not permit forced repatriation.

He however says there are plans to improve the monitoring of their activities.