Asylum and refugee status in Ghana

The Refugee Law defines refugees in line with the 1951 UN Convention, the 1967 Protocol and the 1969 OAU Convention, whose texts are attached to the law. It forbids refusing entry to, expelling, extraditing or returning a refugee to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened because of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, or where their life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened by external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disrupting public order. Exceptions apply to people who endanger Ghana's security or have committed serious crimes.

A person who claims refugee status and entered or stays in Ghana illegally may not be declared a prohibited immigrant, detained, imprisoned or penalised merely because of that illegal entry while the application is pending.

Section 8 of the Refugee Law requires anyone in Ghana who wishes to remain as a refugee to apply to the Ghana Refugee Board within 14 days of entering Ghana, or within a longer period the Board allows. The application can be lodged with the nearest immigration officer at the point of entry, with any immigration officer, with a police officer or through the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Ghana. That office forwards the application, with any documents or information the applicant can provide, to the Board within seven days.

The Board must consider each application within 30 days of receiving it and may then make the inquiries it considers necessary, including inviting the applicant to appear before it. According to the Board, it registers, interviews and recognises or rejects asylum seekers all year round. After its investigation the Board recognises or refuses to recognise the applicant and notifies the decision in writing. Within the Ghana Immigration Service, a Refugee Desk set up in 2005 in the Migration Management Bureau works with UNHCR on protection and durable solutions.

A recognised refugee enjoys the rights, and bears the duties, set out in the 1951 Convention, the 1967 Protocol and the OAU Convention, which include access to wage-earning employment and elementary education on the terms the Convention sets. Each refugee and family member is issued an identity card, a residence permit and, where appropriate, a United Nations travel document. Family members may stay as long as the refugee does, keep their right to remain after marriage, majority, divorce or the refugee's death, and may apply for refugee status themselves. The Board may assist refugees who meet the conditions for naturalisation, and the Minister can designate areas where refugees and applicants live. Ghana has two major refugee camps in the Western Region and a reception centre in the Upper East Region, and some refugees live in towns.

An applicant refused by the Board may appeal in writing to the Minister responsible (the Secretary in the original text) within 30 days of being notified. Before deciding, the Minister may invite the UNHCR representative in Ghana to make oral or written representations, send the case back to the Board or make further inquiries; the Minister's decision is final and is notified in writing.

Under section 10, an applicant and every family member may remain in Ghana until recognised; if refused, until the right of appeal has been exhausted; and if the appeal is dismissed, for a reasonable time of up to three months to seek admission to another country of their choice. The Minister may extend this period where admission elsewhere is reasonably likely.

The Ghana Refugee Board can be reached on 0307 038502 or 0307 038503 and 0302 779409, and by email at info@grb.gov.gh. Claims can also be lodged through any immigration or police officer or through UNHCR's office in Ghana. Giving false information in an application is an offence under the Refugee Law.