Imagine waking up one day and your only option is to flee from your home, leaving
everything you have labored for, and sometimes your loved ones, behind taking nothing,
and without a clue to your destination.
This is what over 100 million people have gone through as we write.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), at the end of 2022, this many number
of people were forcibly displaced globally, a record number propelled by emerging
conflict across Europe.
Furthermore, people fleeing armed conflict or persecution often face perilous and
intolerable situations. They end up in another country and often face numerous
challenges, including language barriers, cultural differences, limited access to education
and healthcare, and discrimination. These challenges make it difficult for refugees’
inclusion, which is key to enabling refugees to rebuild their lives and contribute
meaningfully to their host communities.
Stories of refugees who have successfully integrated into host communities have been
told all over the world. One of such is 36-year-old Heros Djaone. Heros fled his home
country Chad in 2008 to Cote dÍvoire after war broke out there. Then in 2011 he fled
Cote dÍvoire, when post-election violence escalated to Ghana. Currently a refugee living
in Krisan Camp, Heros struggled to find a job and when he did the conditions were
terrible, he could hardly provide for his family, an experience that almost made him lose
his mind. Heros later went into farming through support from the community to provide
farmland to him. Today, Heros is doing well in farming and has been recognized as the
2021 Best Vegetable farmer for the Ellembelle District for his contribution to farming in
his community and beyond. (https://bit.ly/3CkdT4F).
Thelma Ahamba, 31, also had to flee a war-ravaged Liberia in the early 1990s to Ghana
for safety where she stayed in the camp at Buduburam. In her early days as a refugee,
Thelma hawked bread on the streets to support her single mom make ends meet. She
later became a beneficiary of the DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee
Initiative) Scholarship Programme and through that, completed a bachelor’s degree in
marketing in 2017. The Programme offers qualified refugee students the possibility to
earn an undergraduate degree in their country of asylum. Through the dedicated
support of the German Government, UNHCR and private donors, the programme has
supported over 15,000 young refugees to undertake tertiary studies since 1992.
Another Ivorian refugee at Egyiekrom Refugee Camp, Madam Kabra is also the trainer
for a catering class, being run by UNHCR Implementing partner the Assemblies of God
Relief and Development Services (AGREDS). (https://bit.ly/42EBloc)
These three stories demonstrate the positive impact of refugees’ inclusion. They are
stories of hope and the power of commitment to refugees’ inclusion.
Heros received farming supplies which helped him provide for his family and ultimately
won him the Best Vegetable farmer award. Thelma also became the first university
graduate in her family through the DAFI scholarship and has returned to Liberia to work
as a Data and Device Specialist. Madam Kabra is empowering young people in her
community and has become the bread winner of her family.
“The issue of refugee inclusion is very pertinent. When individuals are provided with
opportunities, they can optimize their full potentials. Whether its refugees seeking a
chance to rebuild their lives, the presence of opportunities empowers individuals to
strive for success. When given the chance, individuals can achieve remarkable
accomplishments, benefitting both themselves and their communities”- Ms. Esther
Kiragu, UNHCR Representative in Ghana.
Becoming a refugee is not by choice. The circumstances that lead people to flee their
home country can happen to anyone at any time. Neither are refugees the crisis.
On World Refugee Day, the focus is on inclusion. As we honour refugees around the
globe, celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their
home country to escape conflict or persecution, let us also reflect on how best to
include them in our communities and countries. Their resilience should spur us to give
them the opportunity to remain a part of the communities in which they find
themselves.
Driving the work of the UN to enable refugee inclusion, as told in the three stories above,
is the fact that refugees, like all individuals, have fundamental human rights that should
be respected and protected. Promoting their social integration, empowering them to be
self-reliant and less dependent on aid, providing access to education, providing mental
health support, and recognizing the cultural diversity of refugees contribute immensely
to the successful inclusion of refugees in their host communities. In attaining this, the
UNHCR Ghana, works closely with the Government of Ghana, through the Ghana
Refugee Board, advising and supporting the government as needed to implement its
state responsibility to protect refugees.
Collectively, let us give refugees hope away from home by including them in the social,
the economic and political life of the communities that host them.
