Ghana has received 172 asylum seekers from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire over the past two weeks, as tensions mount ahead of the West African country’s presidential election in October, the Ghana Refugee Board said.
The Ivorians, who crossed into Ghana fearing unrest, are being housed at the Ampain Refugee Camp in the Western Region’s Ellembelle District.
“We have some Ivorians who have come into the country to seek asylum based on the fact that they predict or believe there is tension leading up to the presidential election,” the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Refugee Board, Tetteh Padi, told the Daily Graphic.
Padi said the refugees had been registered and provided with shelter, though food aid had not yet been supplied. He added that the numbers arriving had increased last week compared to the previous one.
The influx follows President Alassane Ouattara’s controversial announcement to seek a fourth term, a move that has drawn criticism from opposition groups and reignited concerns about instability. Côte d’Ivoire’s last major political crisis in 2010-2011 left about 3,000 people dead.
Padi expressed hope that the elections would be peaceful, noting that if stability returned, the asylum seekers would likely go back home.
The Ampain camp also hosts a smaller number of Sudanese refugees who arrive intermittently, he said.
