By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sierra Leone in collaboration with the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) has on the 7th October 2021 engaged stakeholders of refugee host communities to formally inform them of the closure of all refugee programs in Sierra Leone.
The engagement held in Kenema according to officials of the two institutions will enable the community people to discuss developmental projects which will be sponsored by UNHCR and NaCSA that will serve as UNHCR legacy and benefit for the host communities and the integrated refugees in Sierra Leone.
Speaking on the NaCSA and UNHCR “Thank you Sierra Leone Project’’, the Senior Protection officer UNHCR multi-country office, Daniel Ruit, said the objective of the engagement is to understand the needs of the host communities since they have hosted the refugees for more than twenty years.
He added that it is also a sign of appreciation for the generosity of Sierra Leoneans.
The Officer stated that the engagement will enhance the communities to prioritize their felt needs that will serve as tangible legacy for UNHCR refugees’ projects and assured them that they are at liberty to discuss the development priorities for their communities.
In her statement, the Director of programs NaCSA, Regina Sia Saffa said NaCSA in collaboration with UNHCR multi-country office based in Senegal has decided to embark on nationwide assessment on socio-economic and infrastructural support given by the host communities where the Liberian refugees were hosted. She said the assessment is part of the exit strategy targeting refugees and for the ‘thank you Sierra Leone project’ which will commence in 2022 as ways of concreting plans to establish structures, systems and processes.
Madam Saffa stated that NaCSA has a record of 393 refugees in Sierra Leone legally and therefore, the engagement with the stakeholders is not for any negotiation but the final stage to close down all refugees existence in the country, adding that, the only option for refugees who may want to stay is to be integrated in Sierra Leone as ECOWAS citizens of which the government through NaCSA will facilitate all the necessary documents such as residential permit, work permit among others or to return to their country of origin. Otherwise, he said any refugee that will fail to honour those two options will not be considered as a refugee but will stay on their own and will be expected to produce residential permit and other documents after ninety days.
She added that there were over sixty thousand refugees in Sierra Leone but a lot of them travelled to other countries through resettlement programs while others returned to their country of origin but others decided to stay even when normality was restored in their country.
“Nobody is forcing anyone to be integrated or to go back to their country of origin but one stays on his or her own,’’ he said.
Saffa said that those refugees that have integrated in Freetown over the years have benefited from NaCSA cash transfer projects and that NaCSA has new projects underway such as skills development and small businesses for farmers and if a refugee decides to be integrated early, will qualify to benefit from it after getting all the necessary documents.
The chairman of the program and Kenema district Councilor, Omaru Dabor, applauded the move made by NaCSA and UNHCR to recognize the support stakeholders have been providing for the refugees over two decades.
He said the staying of refugees over the years have affected the social –economic development of the host communities but that the people were able to surmount those challenges. He commended NaCSA for briefing the authorities and the refugees about the package set aside for the closure of the refugee program in the country.
Speaking on behalf of his colleague Paramount Chiefs, Sidiqui Mohamed Kapuwa told the gathering that hosting refugees in their chiefdoms was challenging especially in establishing the camps as some of the settlement sites were occupied with plantations but because of humanitarian reasons, their plantations were destroyed to allow the refugees to stay.
He thanked NaCSA and UNHCR for appreciating their efforts for the services they have been providing for the refugees in their chiefdoms and assured them that their felt needs will be presented for the future development of their country.
One of the refugees Musu Gray from Tobanda camp thanked NaCSA and UNHCR and the government for the support they provided for them over the period. She however drew the attention of UNHCR and NaCSA to poor state of the primary school constructed for their children that needs urgent attention since the distance covered to attend school at Bandawoh in Niawa chiefdom is quite a stretch for the children.
In his Keynote statement, the Resident Minister East, Andrew Ansu Fatorma said, the closure of refugee program in Sierra Leone reminds them of the ten years civil war to which a lot of people lost their lives and that, the idea of host community to identify the felt needs of the people is a novelty for the development of the community.
The resident minister stated that the host community needs to plan well for the future of the next generation especially with tangible developments that will reflect on the lives of the people, adding that, NaCSA should make sure that they work with the host communities in identifying their felt needs since the people are not well knowledgeable in project development.
‘’If the promises made by UNHCR are not fulfilled to those communities, NaCSA will be held responsible,” he said.
Copyright © Politico Online 11/10/21
