The biggest refugee camp in Ghana which security experts say has become a criminals den, is going to be cleared by the Gomoa East District Assembly in the Central Region.
The Buduburam Refugee Camp, near Kasoa, was set up by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the 1990s to host people fleeing war-ravaged Liberia.
As at 2006, the UNHCR had estimated that Buduburam as hosting 38,000 largely Liberian refugees.
The camp was subsequently decommissioned as a refugee base by the UNHCR in June 2010 and has since been deemed as a hideout for social deviants, including alleged robbery gangs.
In the ensuing heat, the chiefs and people of Gomoa Fetteh held a press conference to call on the government to demolish the place as a measure to curb crime in the country.
The traditional authorities also threatened to demolish the place if the government failed to act accordingly.
The DCE for Gomoa East, Solomon Darko-Quarm later said the government has given the assembly the green light to demolish parts of the camp (about 141 acres), specifically the portion which harbours a lot of suspected criminals.
“The Chiefs and people of Gomoa Fetteh led by Nana Abor Attah gave the government an ultimatum to demolish sections of the Gomoa Budumburam camp, and we have engaged all stakeholders on this directive. And we are hoping that in due time the place will be demolished to rid the place of criminals,” he said.
He added that “government is in agreement with the chiefs and people of Gomoa Fetteh, and we will soon carry out the exercise for Gomoa Budumburam to become a modern city in the whole of Ghana.”
The DCE said “the Buduburam Camp has become an albatross around the neck of the nation as it has become a den for many suspected criminals engaged in many criminal activities across the country.”
He said the demolition would also pave the way to redevelop the area to befit the district’s status as the gateway to the Central Region.
“It has become a fast-growing community which needs social and economic amenities to befit its status. Among the amenities to be put up in the area will be the construction of a public SHS which will complement the St Gregory SHS which was recently adopted by the government but lacks the capacity to accommodate junior high school graduates in the area,” the DCE said.
As the deadline of September 30 approached, some residents in the camp tried to demonstrate in front of the Buduburam District Police Command, and vowed not to move an inch.
In the process, four people were arrested, and according to the police, they picketed the area without permission.