U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2001 - Togo
| Publisher | United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants |
| Publication Date | 20 June 2001 |
| Cite as | United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2001 - Togo , 20 June 2001, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3b31e16a10.html [accessed 5 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Togo hosted more than 10,000 refugees at the end of 2000, the vast majority from Ghana.
Approximately 3,000 Togolese refugees remained outside the country at year's end, including about 1,000 in Benin, some 1,000 in Ghana, and about 1,000 new Togolese asylum applicants in Europe.
Refugees from Ghana
Ethnic conflict in northern Ghana forced some 15,000 Ghanaians to flee to Togo in 1994. Approximately 10,000 remained in northern Togo at the end of 2000.
Most refugee families lived a self-sufficient lifestyle among local Togolese communities. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided community health education in refugee zones. The government of Ghana invited the refugees to repatriate in 1999, but relatively few did so. UNHCR reported in mid-2000 that some Ghanaian refugees expressed an interest in returning to Ghana, but virtually no repatriations occurred during the year.
Refugees from Togo
More than 200,000 Togolese fled the country in 1993 to escape the government's violent crackdown against a pro-democracy movement. Although most Togolese refugees returned home by 1997, several thousand remained in exile during 2000. Many of the remaining refugees were prominent opponents of the ruling regime and were unlikely to repatriate soon.
