“I have fled twice for my life; one within my home country, South Sudan and then finally to Ghana. I fled with mixed feelings of finding new hope in a new country”, said Salim Mohammed
Salim is now an urban refugee in Ghana. He lives in Mamobi, a suburb in the capital city of the country, Accra. He survives on the paltry money he gets from doing menial jobs that he seldom gets due to numerous constraints. Salim’s life depicts the living conditions of several other refugees who live in the urban city.
Salim is a Sudanese refugee who first fled his native Dito village to Naila city in Darfur. He lost one brother and three others who fled in different directions, when an armed militia group attacked their village. He finally fled to Ghana for his life in 2011. This was after he had escaped from prison when he was accused based on his ethnic background (Zaghawa tribe) of being part of the militia group. Salim had earlier been hit by a stray bullet during a cross fire exchange between his government forces and an armed group. He was detained in prison for three years. After gathering some small amount of money from a friend, he made his journey all the way from Sudan, through Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo and finally to Ghana, his choice of country of refuge.
He chose Ghana due to his belief in the safety refugees are provided for in the country. Though Salim had wished to seek refuge in South Africa, he could not do so due to financial constraints.
Salim, who first came to Accra, requested to be relocated to a refugee camp as he could not afford to rent a house in Accra. He was taken to the Krisan camp after registering with the Ghana Refugee Board. Life at the camp was averagely good. “in terms of accommodation, health care and security, the camp is a safe place to be” Salim explained. Notwithstanding the existence of some basic needs in Krisan camp for Salim and several other refugees and asylum seekers, he couldn’t survive a continuous stay there. This is because, “it is very difficult to get food to eat”, Salim said unequivocally. UNHCR provides non-food materials such as blanket, bucket, and kitchen utensils etc. for new arrivals at the camp to make their stay comfortable. This is in addition to the basic health care and education that are provided for all refugees. However, due to lack of funds, refugees at the Krisan settlement, who are made up of people from different nationalities, have to provide for their own food. They either fish in a nearby river or farm on small parcels of land around the camp.
Refugees at Krisan camp indulge in these activities to earn some money to supplement the efforts of the UN Refugee Agency in catering for their daily needs.
Now, Salim lives in Accra, at a mosque in Mamobi. This area is a predominately Muslim neighborhood with the majority of the population being Hausa-speaking people. Salim, a Muslim, feels welcome here. He and the other refugees, who are also from South Sudan, have the mosque and its compound which doubles as their sanctuary of worship and their home. There is a small corner inside the mosque which serves as their storage room where they keep their belongings.
Not having access to safe accommodation due to lack of funds, is just one of the many challenges urban refugees encounter. Due to lack of work permit, most urban refugees like Salim, find it nearly impossible to be employed in a stable work. Most urban refugees get menial jobs to do but end up being exploited due to language barrier (refugees’ low competencies in the local dialects of the host communities). Salim had earlier lost his job as a cook in one of the restaurants in the community. He now idles around the mosque with the other refugees or move around the community in search of menial jobs to do.
He laments on his plight as an urban refugee. “There is no good place to sleep, no food, and no job” Salim said. Urban refugees, unlike those in the refugee camps, are not given food due to lack of funds. Despite all these, Salim has hope. He is happy he survived from the conflicts in his home country and is in Ghana. Salim, just like the other urban refugees, believe things will be much better some day.
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