Ivory Coast refugees in Ghana

04 Apr, 2011

Over 5,000 refugees from the Ivory Coast have arrived in neighbouring Ghana due to the intensified fighting in the West African cocoa-growing country, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The agency estimates that the escalating conflict has displaced over 300,000 civilians to date, and says it has put arrangements in place to cater for the 25,000 refugees expected to arrive in Ghana.

Aside from the traditional route from Abidjan, more people are beginning to enter Ghana through border crossings such as Sampa and Atuna in the north-western region of Brong Ahafo, located approximately 430 km west of Accra. The agency said that some 1,300 Ivorians arrived in Ghana at the end of March/early April to escape fighting in the western region of Du