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Court to rule on Liberians refugee suit on April 24
Accra, April 14, Ghanadot/GNA – An Accra
Fast Track High Court will on Thursday, April 24, rule on a
motion of interlocutory injunction filed against the
Ministry of the Interior and two others against the
repatriation of 23 Liberian refugees.
The two are Ghana Immigration Service and the Minister of
Justice and Attorney General.
This was after the court, presided over Mr. Justice P.K.
Gyeasayor, a Court of Appeal Judge, had listened to
arguments from counsels of the applicants and defendants.
Mrs Yvonne Attakorah–Obuobisah, Principal State Attorney,
said the 23 Liberians currently in detention at the Ghana
Immigration Service (GIS) had not been registered as
refugees, adding that, “anyone who is not registered as a
refugee cannot be recognized here”.
She said this in response to a motion on notice for writ of
Habeas Corpus filed for 23 Liberians and an interlocutory
injunction against the Director of the Ghana Immigration
Service (GIS).
The Director of GIS in letter dated March 31, indicated the
intention to repatriate the 23 Liberians.
Mrs. Attakorah-Obuobisah said there were laws which
regulated the activities of refugees saying; “people don’t
just walk in to acquire refugee status”.
She noted that the Liberians’ status as refugees did not
exist because that ceased about three years ago.
Mrs. Attakorah-Obuobisah contended that the 23 applicants
arrived in the country only to mix up with their relations
who were in Ghana but they could not use these grounds to
stay in Ghana.
“They cannot derive refugee status for the fact that their
relations are in Ghana.”
The Principal State Attorney told the court that those who
had been registered by the UNHCR were being repatriated
voluntarily.
Mrs. Attakorah-Obuobisah said the ticketing and other
relevant documents were being prepared for the applicants so
that the applicants would be sent back but because of the
application they were being detained and that could not be
described as unlawful.
“The arrangement was being done in collaboration with the
Liberian Ambassador in Ghana,” she told the court.
She said the GIS had not violated the rights of the
applicants, including seven children and prayed the court to
allow the applicants to furnish the court with their
resident cards to prove their case.
Mrs Attakorah-Obuobisah prayed the court to allow the
Director of GIS carry out its mandate stressing that
interlocutory injunction was not properly laid because “we
don’t know what applicants were asking for”.
Nana Oye Lithur of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
(CHRI) contended that the applicants were illegal immigrants
but are undocumented refugees who arrived in the country as
a result of civil war.
She therefore prayed the court to recognize their rights and
release them.
Nana Oye noted that there were seven minors who were below
the age of 18 and prayed the court that the Juvenile Justice
Act should take care of them.
The Human Rights Activist told the court that some of the
applicants who had their marriage certificates arrived in
the country as refugees who had been registered with UNHCR
and that the Director of GIS had no right to repatriate
them.
According to Nana Oye the Director of GIS ought to have
investigated thoroughly the applicants’ relations, saying
some of the applicants had their husbands, brothers and
sisters in the country.
She held that the applicants were Liberian asylum seekers
and not social or economic immigrants and had registered
with the Welfare Office at the Buduburam refugee camp.
She said the applicants in their affidavit had tried to
register several times but to no avail.
“The Attorney General has failed to meet its case that the
accused persons pose threats to national security,” she
said, adding that, the applicants had not engaged in any
subversive acts while in Ghana.
If the applicants were posing threat to national security,
they could have come to court and they would be heard in
chambers.
She said she was surprised to hear that the applicants were
now posing security threats because the Ministry of the
Interior and the Ghana Police Service had stated earlier
that they were flouting the Public Order Act.
In her view the repatriation of the 23 applicants was an
arbitrary one and they had been able to substantiate their
statements.
“The applicants have relatives here and have the right to
stay in Ghana,” she added.
According to her the Director of GIS had no jurisdiction to
order that 23 Liberians be repatriated adding that, the
order by the GIS on March 31, this year was null and void.
The applicants earlier filed a motion on notice for writ of
Habeas Corpus on behalf of Theresa Cheddah Dogbey and 22
other refugees.
CHRI and Legal Resource Centre on behalf of applicants are
seeking an order of injunction restraining the Minister of
the Interior, the IGP and Director of GIS from taking
further action, including the deportation of the applicants.
GIS and Ministry of Interior are to justify the continued
detention of the applicants and give reasons why the court
should not order their release.
In an affidavit in support of the motion, Ms Dogbey said on
March 17, this year she was among 630 women and children who
were arrested and detained at Kordiabe Training Centre in
the Greater Accra Region.
According to her she was a registered refugee with the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR in Accra.
She said her 10-year-old daughter Joetta Solo, who was at
the moment resident at Buduburam and her husband had been
issued with refugee identity cards.
The applicant said at about 1800 hours on March 31, she and
16 other women and seven children were transferred to GIS in
preparation for deportation pointing out that her detention
was unlawful.
GNA
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