POLITICS-LIBERIA: Ghanian Fishing Families Flee into Sierra Leone

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

SULIMA, Sierra Leone, Apr 4 2003 (IPS) - "We were forced to flee our fishing community in Robertsport in north-western Liberia, following heavy fighting there," remarks Edward Kofi-Ansah, a family head who now resides in Sulima, a fishing village on the Sierra Leonean side of the border.

Like Kofi-Ansah, dozens of Ghanaian fishing families have been trooping into Sierra Leone fearing an escalation of fighting in Liberia.

"Their total number has come up to more than 500 and we expect more Ghanaian (refugees) if fighting continues," explains Enoch Ochalla, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Field Officer in the border region.

Narrating his ordeal, Kwabena, another Ghanaian family head told IPS that fighting erupted on Tuesday between Liberian government forces and rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in and around the town of Robertsport, forcing the Ghanaians to flee.

"The fighting was fierce and I saw death and destruction. I was left with no alternative but to flee with my family," Kwabena told IPS this week.

Sulima is a small coastal fishing village lying on the Sierra Leonean side of the border. Its inhabitants are primarily involved in fishing and appear to be living in harmony with the Ghanaians.

But even with such hospitality, the Ghanaians are clearly finding it hard to adjust to their new environment and engage in their regular profession of fishing. "We are not refugees in the strict sense of the word; call us economic migrants if you like and all we want now is to engage in our regular fishing activities," says Kofi Acheampong, another Ghanian fisherman.

Locals in Sulima say the Ghanaians do engage in small-scale fishing, "just for sustenance". "They are not allowed to fish in outer sea," says one man.

Concurring, a Sierra Leonean navy officer, who patrols the Sulima sea front, told IPS this week: "This action has been taken mainly because of security reasons. In fact, we have grounded most of their fishing boats because this is one easy way of smuggling weapons and ammunition into the country".

An official of the government agency, National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), told IPS in Sulima that the Ghanaian fishing families would be required to pay a million Leones (about 1,000 U.S. Dollars) per fishing boat as tax, before undertaking large-scale fishing.

"We just can’t afford that amount," cries Kodjo, a 30-year-old fisherman. "We are not interested in the conflict in Liberia; all we want is for the Sierra Leonean authorities to allow us resume our fishing activities."

What is even more confusing is the status of the Ghanaian fishing families in Sulima.

The Sierra Leonean authorities want them to be housed in refugee camps but the Ghanaians seem clearly reluctant to do so. They have lived in Liberian fishing town and villages for several years and many say they are waiting for the situation in Liberia to normalise before they return.

Says, another Ghanian, John Ephson: "I am in no haste to return to Liberia. The fighting there seems to have no end in sight. My family and I have lost everything we had back in Liberia so we don’t even know where to start, if we do return."

Ochalla says the status of the Ghanaians in Sulima is yet to be determined. "We don’t consider them as refugees yet. They could well be economic migrants and so until we sort out their status with the Sierra Leonean authorities, we cannot just move them from the border region and take them to an uncertain location and without their consent," he says.

In the meantime, though, the Ghanaians are hoping that the conflict in Liberia comes to a speedy conclusion so that they will return to their fishing communities in that country.

Right now, Ephson says: "It is still dangerous to venture into the battle zones of Liberia. We are only playing the game of wait and see but don’t want to move away from the border region.