VZCZCXRO9573
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1796/01 2151423
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031423Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2043
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 001796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM GH
SUBJECT: KRISAN CAMP SHOWING SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT 
 
REF: A) 05 ACCRA 2585 
 
     B) 05 ACCRA 2548 
     C) 05 ACCRA 2311 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Morale at Krisan Refugee Camp has 
improved considerably since the previous Embassy visit eight 
months ago.  While refugees exhibited renewed confidence in 
UNHCR and have apparently repudiated the camp's violent 
past, some problems with sexual and gender-based violence 
(SGBV), lighting, and potable water remain.  The camp's 350 
Liberian refugees (out of a total camp population of nearly 
1,700) remain resistant to the notion of repatriation and 
will require further persuasion before they will budge. 
Meanwhile, cognizant that UNHCR will be evaluating hundreds 
of refugee cases for possible resettlement in August, 
refugees are on their best behavior.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------- 
Krisan's Violent Past 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The once obscure Krisan Refugee Camp, located in 
southwestern Ghana, made headlines when in November 2005 
angry refugees burned two buildings and one UNHCR vehicle 
(reftels).  During their short visit to the camp one month 
later, the two West Africa-based Ref Coords learned that 
refugees were angry about living conditions, the imposition 
of income-generating activities, inordinate delays in 
resettlement activity, and the disproportionate reaction of 
the Ghanaian police in responding to the arson. 
Unfortunately, their visit was cut short when policemen 
carrying automatic weapons escorted them to the regional 
police headquarters, where they were detained for one hour 
before being released unharmed.  It was against this 
backdrop that UNHCR officials, Ref Coords, and GOL officials 
visited Krisan in July. 
 
----------------------------------- 
From Isolation to Focused Attention 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The first team to arrive during the week of 
July 10 was a delegation from UNHCR with the express purpose 
of reconstituting the neighborhood watch team and the 
refugee welfare council.  UNHCR Representative Aida Haile 
Mariam told Ref Coord that the voting for council 
representatives signaled a repudiation of the camp's violent 
past.  The election of a solid slate of moderates to the 
council indicated to her that the majority of camp residents 
were no longer intimidated by radical elements and were 
willing to work constructively with UNHCR.  The arrival 
three months ago of a UNV, whose sole responsibility was the 
1,700 residents of Krisan Camp, also helped to restore the 
once-fractured relationship between UNHCR and refugees. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ref Coords from Abidjan and Accra toured the camp 
on July 12, noting immediately the elimination of the two 
armed checkpoints that once guarded the camp entrance.  The 
smiling faces of the freshly uniformed neighborhood watch 
committee supplanted the negative images from their previous 
visit in December, when refugees were either seething with 
rage or cowering in fear.  Refugees commented favorably on 
the resumption of regular UNHCR visits to the camp, 
following a six-month hiatus from October 2005 to April of 
this year. 
 
------------------------------------ 
A Baby Boom Possibly Related to SGBV 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Employees at the NGO-run clinic cautioned that 
while things had improved, life in the camp was still not a 
bed of roses.  One Liberian nurse (protect) claimed that a 
Ghanaian night guard had attempted to assault her sexually 
two months ago, but she had been able to escape unharmed. 
The nursing staff said that virtually every girl aged 15-17 
was now pregnant, a phenomenon they had not observed prior 
to the arrival of Ghanaian police on November 8, 2005.  The 
fact that no one had complained at the clinic may have been 
an indication that money had been exchanged, according to 
one nurse.  (While their numbers have increased, only about 
one-sixth of Krisan teens are currently pregnant.) 
Furthermore, several refugees and camp employees who had 
shared their concerns with Ref Coords last December 
(including the head nurse) had been threatened. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Sour Relations with Local Villagers 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Relations with the local populace were still 
described as distant.  Refugees believed they were over- 
 
ACCRA 00001796  002 OF 003 
 
 
charged when buying supplies at the market and under-paid 
when working as fishermen's assistants.  In addition, 
refugee children who attended the local elementary school 
together with those from nearby Ghanaian villages reported 
cases of non-violent taunting.  Refugees acknowledged that 
some villagers may be resentful because of the myriad 
benefits that camp residents received. 
 
--------------------------------- 
The Slow Pace of Ghanaian Justice 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The legal cases of the suspected arsonists 
responsible for burning two buildings and one UNHCR vehicle 
last November were still pending.  One refugee complained 
that he had been summoned to court 13 times for repetitive 
questioning, but the judge failed to appear on 5 of those 
occasions.  To pay for the $8 round-trip bus fare to the 
court in Takoradi, some refugees had sold their food 
rations. 
 
-------------------- 
No Lighting at Night 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Lighting remains a problem in the camp; the National 
Catholic Secretariat ran a diesel generator only from 7 to 
11 p.m., after which the camp was plunged into total 
blackness.  Besides the dangers of SGBV under these 
circumstances, alligators and boas were known to roam the 
camp during the darkest hours.  UNHCR has proposed 
connecting Krisan Camp to Ghana's electrical grid but said 
it lacked funding to purchase a $10,000 transformer. 
 
------------------- 
Vocational Training 
------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Refugees were concerned about vocational training 
and income-generating projects.  One woman commented that 
she had nine years' worth of certificates of her walls for 
all the various training programs she had successfully 
completed, but the poverty of the surrounding villages meant 
that she had never earned a dime.  Undaunted, some refugees 
operated small shops within the camp, while at least one man 
was observed building cane furniture. 
 
----------------------- 
Resettlement - Finally? 
----------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The prospects for resettlement appeared brighter 
than ever, with UNHCR's long-awaited "socio-economic survey" 
re-scheduled for the period July 24 to August 11.  The Accra 
Branch Office had at its disposal two ICMC contractors, one 
Durable Solutions Officer, plus additional expatriate staff 
on loan from the resettlement hub.  At the same time, UNHCR 
is facing reduced pressure from the GOG to resettle the 
Sudanese, whom the new Minister of Interior no longer 
considers a "security threat," according to GOG contacts and 
UNHCR.  UNHCR has been transparent with refugees in 
emphasizing that it will consider resettlement across a 
broad range of nationalities to avoid the appearance of 
favoritism. 
 
--------------------- 
Repatriation?  Never! 
--------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Capping off an eventful week at Krisan, a 
delegation of Liberian government officials, including the 
Minister of Internal Affairs, the Executive Director of the 
Liberian Refugee Commission, and the Deputy Commissioner of 
Immigration, visited the Camp on July 14 to encourage its 
350 Liberian residents to consider returning home.  This was 
Krisan's first exposure to promotional repatriation, since 
UNHCR had concentrated its efforts up to now on the much 
larger Liberian population in Budumburam Camp.  GOL 
officials told Ref Coord afterward that the reception by 
refugees was hostile.  One Krisan resident asked pointedly 
how a GOL employee flanked continually by bodyguards could 
assure refugees that Monrovia was safe.  Others, citing 
various bank robberies that have taken place in Liberia's 
capital city, accused the delegation of lying to them about 
the security situation. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Most Krisan refugees agreed that morale, if not 
infrastructure, had improved since November.  They had high 
 
ACCRA 00001796  003 OF 003 
 
 
marks for UNV Mike Sanderson and were grateful that UNHCR 
Representative Haile had visited the camp twice during her 
first three months in Ghana.  Refugees noted that UNHCR was 
consulting more often with them, rather than attempting to 
impose solutions from on high.  UNHCR thus appears to be 
winning the war for the hearts and minds of the refugees in 
Krisan, most of whom have eschewed violence in favor of 
dialogue and cooperation, perhaps due in part to upcoming 
prospects for third-country resettlement.  UNHCR still has a 
tough sell on the Liberian repatriation issue; we will 
continue to share the message that we see Liberia as a 
country with a hopeful future and are redirecting the bulk 
of our Liberian refugee assistance efforts to returnees in 
that country. 
 
CROMER