-Liberian returnees from Ghana speak out
By Jerromie S. Walters
On Friday, May 24th, the first batch of Liberian returnees who resided in Ghana arrived in Liberia. They form part of a total of 4,300 Liberian returnees scheduled to return home between May and June this year.
Upon their arrival, they were wholeheartedly welcomed until Tuesday, May 28, 2024, when Patrick Worzie, the Executive Director of the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC), said more than half of the first batch of approximately 648 Liberian returnees from the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana are drug addicts.
This made many Liberians curious about the consequences drug addiction has, and how the addicted returnees will relate to their new environment. Moreover, there are more concerns about the possible threat (S) it poses to the people of Bong County [Their first residential stop] and Liberia in general even though the country is already struggling with the proliferation of Kush, and other harmful substances.
Meanwhile, even though it has been confirmed that some of the Liberian returnees are on substances, WomenVoices has established that there are still a lot more of them who are academically, technically, and vocationally inclined to make life for themselves if empowered and contribute to the Liberian economy.
Besides, Musa Sackor, the Transit Site Manager of LRRRC at the Bong County Transit Point told WomenVoices that the number of people who tested negative for drugs is less than those who tested positive. This is contrary to Worzie’s disclosure about more than half of the first batch of the Liberian returnees being drug addicts.
At the Returnees’ Site in Sergeant Kollie Town, Bong County, the returnees, especially women talked through their credentials and expressed optimism that they will be empowered to contribute to the Liberian economy.
Yata Grace Kpenkel, a young Liberian Returnee articulated, “Majority of us have skills, we have educational background. People did trade because the country we are coming from people believe in careers. People start from high school, and the next thing you do is to get a skill so for me I’m an electrician, I graduated last month and I came with my documents.”
She is a graduate of the Anointed Technical Institute and holds a credential that’s regarded in Ghana as an Associate Degree. With said skill, she is hoping that she can be employed to push life as she starts life all over. Grace originates from Bomi County. Amid reports of some of her colleagues being associated with substances, she encouraged Liberians to accept their relatives and help them get rehabilitated and reintegrated.
Commenting on the awkward side of her stay in Ghana, she noted: “Life was not easy, it was a bit challenging because it is not easy to stay in another man’s home especially when you are not acquainted with their system [It’s not easy]. We went through a lot. People will look down on you, people will take advantage of you, and there is nothing you can do about it so we went through all those things.”
“I feel so excited [Being home] because I missed my home because I left for a long time and I’m happy being back home. Coming back home is like removing a burden from your head because it came a time the only thing we could wake up to was stress. You will wake up in the morning thinking about where you are starting from, and what you are going to engage with after you have lost everything it was not an easy thing for the past three months but for now, I feel relief and I feel okay,” she added.
Like Grace, Morris Massaquoi is also a young Liberian who’s equipped with a strong sense of fashion design. “I’m appealing to the government to try their possible best to help some of us who came back with trade or skill because we are back home now we have made up our minds to stay home because our country is safe and we know we can make a change in this country,” he said.
Morris Massaquoi is a trained fashion designer and appears willing to be empowered to push his career he started in Ghana. “I’m a fashion designer. I did industrial fashion designing [Tailoring), so I believe with my skill I can do anything.” Howbeit, he stated, “To be frank I really feel happy being back home because nowhere is better than home. The kind of things we passed through back there wasn’t easy. Even our brothers that are back there we are thinking how they are staying.”
Massaquoi hails from Grand Cape Mount County and is one of the 133 persons who have been cleared by the LRRRC to be reunified with their members. However, he says his disappointment about the process lies in the fact that they were previously told that they would have only spent less than a week on the camp and be dispatched to their respective counties of origin but it has been more than a week.
Another technically upright Liberian Returnee Annie Basma is a mother of seven children. While in Ghana, she survived as a seamstress and is hoping that she can be employed to continue with life. “I was there everything was alright. I’m a seamstress, I was sewing and supporting my children so everything was ok.”
Basma, “I will do my sewing [To survive] but now I didn’t bring a machine because they stole everything from me, I don’t have anything. I’m a seamstress so if the government can help me I can still do my work. It’s my own country, if I could make it in a different person’s country how about my own country? The one [What] I want the people to help me with is a sewing machine. If I get it I have my old customers, I learned the sewing here before I left, before 1990 I was sewing so if the people can help me with it it will be helpful to me to support my children.”
She admitted that life was a bit ok for them for a good while till a certain point when they were caught up by surprised demolition. “Later, unknowing to every one of us, at 4 o clock they started breaking into our houses so it made my heart to fall. While they are breaking the houses when you are taking your things they are beating you. While you are putting it outside another person is taking it so it made me frustrated.”
Fortunately, she is among those who will reunite with their relatives in the coming days. “My name came up and I’m among the people that they will carry Montserrado [County] tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Since the people went for me, I have been too happy.” She went to Ghana in 2003. The story of Annie Basma is similar to young Blessing Richard, a Liberian returnee who is also excited to be back home and anticipates that their skills will be embraced.
Meanwhile, Esther Kollie is another Liberian Returnee who came along with the first batch from Ghana, unfortunately, she has had some challenges along the way. “Ever since we came here the people have been processing things sometimes we are not getting it like for example now they brought some names but I didn’t find my name and I asked them why I couldn’t find my name they said we are some of them that have high pressure but how will you have high pressure and you are not going under (Undergoing) treatment? How can the pressure come down? The more you stay here is there more your pressure is going up. It will be better they take us to our people then when you [We] go there you [We] are free, you [We] can live your normal life.”
Her words, “For me, I have never had pressure before, it’s here I get the pressure because of the ups and downs [Thinking] and all lots of things so my pressure go up. Almost a hundred human beings they said their pressure is high so they said we are not going with the first trip and the other people’s names are up and they are going tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I’m feeling bad because I don’t want to stay here. There more you are in the heat is the more your pressure will go up, we have been in heat.”
Furthermore, Kollie noted, “Of course we are home, we are free but when we were in Ghana we were not sleeping under heat, some of us heat is not good for us so for me I want to go to my people. We are not under treatment so how the pressure will go down? We have children, we are not making business, we are just sitting so how can you treat the pressure?” She is expected to be reunited with her family in Montserrado County.
The reintegration and coming of more returnees
The Site Manager of the Regional Transit Point, Musa Sackor said the Liberia Returnees Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) has screened the returnees and only those who tested negative for drugs will be eligible for resettlement in their respective counties of origin in the coming days.
Sackor, “We have a procedure in terms of dispatching them to their respective counties of origin. The first step is to have them strained to know who is addicted to drugs and who is not addicted to drugs. Anyone that is drugs freed, then we process those and then we dispatch them to their counties of origin and those that are tested positive, we have a special area for them to be relocated and then they will have to go through screening, they go through psychosocial screening, we detoxicate them before we can send them to their counties of origin.”
Upon their [The first batch] departure, he said the arrival of the next batch of stranded Liberians from Ghana should be expected this week. Mr. Sackor noted that each of the returnees will receive resettlement packages to facilitate their transition to new livelihoods. However, the resettlement process will commence following their successful reintegration into society.
He disclosed plans to relocate individuals testing positive for drugs to designated areas for detoxification before their reintegration into their counties of origin. Males will be accommodated in Bellefinia, situated in Bong District #4, while females will be sheltered in Johnsonville, Monrovia.
Earlier, the LRRRC said they processed and brought back 572 returnees but following final verification, the returnees summed to 648. The last report shows that there are about 184 children, 346 female, 226 male, 7 disabled, and 2 Pregnant women.
