Some Burkinabes seeking asylum in the Sapelliga community of the Bawku West District are appealing to individuals, organisations, and the government of Ghana for support to enable them to go into livelihood empowerment activities.
When that is done, the refugees say they will be self-sufficient to cater for their families until calm returns in Burkina Faso so they can return home.
“We are appealing for support to enable us to go into farming or some form of support that can enable us to engage in petty trading. That can fetch us money for us our upkeep as long as we stay here”, Madi Bukari, leader of the refugees seeking asylum at the Sapelliga camp in the Bawku West District.
This came to light when Haven of Love Children’s Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare, Zebilla, Lamisi Akuka, and Christian Service International, supported Burkinabes at the Sapelliga refugee camp. The items donated to the refugees included used clothes, soap, detergent, cooking utensils, and food.
Samuel Nana Bekwai Djirakor, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the foundation said the main aim of the foundation is to show love to the downtrodden and create an enabling environment for children and the vulnerable in society.
“Aside from the support, we are here to let them know that this is not the end of the world. They may be down today but that is not the end of the world and because God loves them, He is interested in them and He will meet them at the point of their needs”
Mr. Djirakor said even though his outfit targeted about 300 refugees from the Sapelliga camp, aiding the parents “for them to be strong enough, in good mental stage to work and take good care of their children, and the children will grow up and not be a nuisance to society”.
On January 2023, over 4,000 Burkinabes flee to Ghana following a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso killing many people there. It is reported that the attacks took place in communities such as Asongo, Bugri, and Zouga in Burkina Faso.
And as a result, some Burkinabes who escaped the attack are sheltered in communities in the Bawku West District and parts of Bawku municipal. Even though some of them have returned home, it is believed that about 3,000 of the refugees mostly women and children are still residing at camps in the Upper East Region.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Sapelliga|Ghana
