PHOTO: Festus Logan, Momolu Johnson, Christine Umotoni, Anthony Aboji & Comfort Lamptey
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Over 250 people, who migrated to Bujumbura refugee camp in Ghana during the hey days of the civil war, are said to be facing the risk of statelessness as a result of the governments of Liberia and Ghana demanding documents to trace their origins.
The Executive Director of the Liberia Refugees, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, Reverend Festus Logan, said this is so because most of these people lost their parents during the war, some were unaccompanied, while others were without documents.
Reverend Logan made the disclosure at the opening of a two-day validation conference on the Liberia National Action Plan on Statelessness organized by the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Monrovia.
According to him, the issue of statelessness is a new phenomenon in Liberia because most of the people are not aware of how it affects a person.
He explained that some people find it difficult to believe whenever they are advised on the need for every citizen to obtain birth certificate, national identification card or passport.
“Another phenomenon we should take into consideration is the issue of human migration as a result of natural disaster,” he said; adding: “some even crossed our border due to internal conflict, political unrest, and insecurity.
Rev. Logan later cautioned the participants to thoroughly discuss and validate the Liberia National Action Plan on Statelessness and come out with proposals and ideas through which Liberia will negate statelessness if there is any, in the country.
Participants and platform guests in a group photo after the opening ceremony
In remarks, The Country Representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Anthony Abogi, commended the Liberian government for joining the efforts aimed at ending statelessness in the region.
According to Mr. Abogi, Liberia is among the 20 countries around the world that around that is serious to end statelessness and commended the civil society organizations and the church for taking serious attention in curbing statelessness.
“Let ‘s know as we work in validating this document,” he said; noting: “Let us know we are helping to make others exist by having state documents.”
For her part, the Country Representative of United Nations Women, Comfort Lamptey, said the majority of displaced persons all over the world are mostly women and children, and it is known fact lot of women fall in this category.
She commended the Liberian government allowing women to pass the citizen’s rights to their children which was one form of a strong discrimination is now removed.
Meanwhile, the Country Representative of the International Organization for Migration, Mohamed Diallo has disclosed that over eight million youths are said to be on the move.
According to him, the national action plan on statelessness will help many in and outside Liberia, wishing to come back, o obtain their necessary documents.
Diallo expressed optimism that in 2023 that the Liberian government with the assistance of UNHCR and other partners put in place mechanism for easy repatriation of Liberians who are stranded in illegal migration.
As for the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Liberia, Christine Umotoni, expressed optimism that the national action plan on statelessness will work effectively because as a country that also have its own share of conflict.
She assured the Liberian government of the United Nations support in the implementation of the national action plan on statelessness.
According to Madam Umotoni, statelessness continues to be one of the human rights issues around the world and about ten million people are said to be stateless worldwide.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Deputy Minister for Administration, Momolu Johnson, the proxy of the Minister Varney Sirleaf who is also Chairman of the Board of Director of the LRRRC, said the validation of the national action plan on statelessness is an indication of the seriousness of the government to end statelessness.
According to him, following the validation, the document will be forwarded to the Liberian cabinet for their import before it can be endorsed by the President.
Minister Johnson thanked the UN family for the support to the LRRRC for their developing the national action plan on statelessness and assured them that all will be done to ensure that following the approval of the plan by President George Weah, it will be used to erase statelessness from Liberia.
The conference, held under the theme: “Nationality Is A Right; Not a Privilege; Liberia Says No To Statelessness,” was graced by representatives of civil society organizations, officials of government, the United Nations system, among many others.