UN refugee agency faces shortfall in aiding 40,000 Togolese in Benin, Ghana

With the number of Togolese fleeing post-election instability to neighbouring countries now passing the 40,000 mark, the United Nations refugee agency today appealed to the international community to urgently make up a $1.45 million shortfall in funding.

“There are no signs that the refugees are intending to return home in the immediate future and it is crucial that donors respond to our request for funds to assist this population,” UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva.

The agency needs $4.7 million to cater to the needs of all the Togolese refugees in Ghana and Benin, as well as to provide limited assistance to internally displaced Togolese but has so far have received only $1.75 million dollars for Benin only. It has allocated $1.5 million from its Operational Reserve to cover immediate regional needs, leaving a $1.45 shortfall for the entire operation.

The rate of new arrivals has been steadily decreasing over the past few weeks. At the height of the crisis, when violent street protests erupted after the April presidential elections, Benin was registering several thousand new arrivals every week but this has now dropped to about 200 weekly.

Overall, 24,500 refugees have been registered in Benin and 15,500 in Ghana, where no new arrivals have been reported since late May. The majority are scattered across a large area in both Ghana and Benin. In Benin, 10,000 refugees are staying in two camps in Come and Lokossa, while another 14,500 are living with local communities.

“We are currently assessing the impact of the presence of such large numbers of asylum-seekers living outside the two established camps in order to provide more targeted assistance,” Ms. Pagonis said.

In Ghana, the refugees are living exclusively with local communities, spread across 114 different locations, along a 400 kilometre-stretch in the Volta Region.