Refugees’ reflections on their stay in the Buduburam Camp in Ghana

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Ghana has been hosting refugees from neighbouring West African countries and other parts of Africa but not much information is available on their experiences in the country. The main objective of this paper therefore is to examine the experiences of the refugees using the Liberian refugees in the Buduburam Refugee Camp as a case study. Using an in-depth interview guide, 44 refugees of both sexes were interviewed through a convenient sampling procedure based on their consent and willingness to participate in the study. The study employed the structuration theory of migration to examine their experiences and the Kunz’s (Int Migr Rev 15:42–51, 1981) typology of refugees to classify the refugees. Through their own capabilities and opportunities offered by both structure and institution, some refugees were able to sustain themselves through petty trading and artisanship while others were unemployed and had to depend occasionally on their social networks for economic support. Cultural shocks, acculturation, tension and occasional quarrels with the indigenes, stigma and discrimination against refugees in schools and at health centres, inaccessibility to formal sector employment, poor security and inadequate infrastructural facilities were some of their experiences in and outside the camp. The need for proper identification of refugees for security reasons, provision of better security and adequate infrastructural facilities and skills training for refugees to engage in livelihood activities were some of the recommendations from the refugees themselves.