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Africa’s Torrent of Misery

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The Liberian boat people, part of Africa’s latest wave of refugees, finally reached asylum last week when Ghana took them in, along with substantial aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. A disaster was averted this time, but which country will open its gates for the next exodus?

The patience of the refugee-receiving nations is running out. Africa is awash with desperate people in flight. One out of three of the world’s refugees fleeing persecution or war is an African. Nearly 750,000 Liberians have fled their West African country since a brutal factional war began nearly seven years ago. Liberia’s neighbors have been accommodating. Guinea has provided haven to 410,000. Ivory Coast has taken in 305,000. Nigeria, despite its own domestic problems, has accepted 4,000, and Sierra Leone, which has suffered its own internal strife, has opened its doors to 4,700 and Ghana has brought in 10,000.

Last week compassion prevailed again when the latest escapees from the Liberian madness--1,500 men, women and children--were able to leave the leaky freighter on which they had been sailing from nation to nation before Ghana, with the promise of U.N. aid, stepped up. The United Nations provided the basics: tents, mattresses, blankets, clothes, food, water and pots and pans. These things will keep the Liberians from becoming an immediate burden to Ghana, but they could also cause resentment among some poor Ghanaians who receive no such largess or who fear that the newcomers will become permanent competitors for jobs and other resources.

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The economic pressures of refugee dislocations, particularly daunting in nations already suffering high unemployment and poverty, are complicated by political and security issues. No one wants to give comfort to a potential enemy or to soldiers who are gaining strength for their next massacre back home. These were the concerns of Rwanda’s neighbors when marauding Tutsis and Hutus fled to Zairean and Tanzanian relief camps in 1994.

The Organization of African Unity encourages its member nations to accept refugees, but the burden seems to be growing endlessly. Some African leaders are asking how many more refugees must be accepted.

West African leaders have tried to end the Liberian war through a regional peacekeeping force. It has made a difference and saved lives. But some peacekeeping troops have fallen on hard times and turned to looting to survive. They need political and financial support from the international community if they are to save both themselves and the Liberians. The breakdown of government in West Africa must be staunched. If it’s not, refugees will trample the boundaries of African nations to dust.

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