Refugees flee camp after clashes with villagers

Thousands of Togolese refugees have fled the Lokossa camp in Benin after fierce clashes with local residents in which 29 people were hurt, some by gunfire, local officials told IRIN on Friday. “We are doing everything we can to bring people back and to calm the situation,” said Rafik Saidi, regional representative for the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The clashes that erupted on Thursday appeared to stem from longstanding tension between local people and the refugees. Camp administrator Richard Honou told IRIN that 26 Togolese refugees and three Beninese citizens had been injured, some by bullets and machetes. An IRIN correspondent at the camp said the entire population of 9,300 refugees had deserted the camp, which was without water and electricity. “The camp looks almost deserted,” said a local official who asked not to be identified. “UNHCR, the authorities, traditional leaders and religious leaders are all working together to restore confidence and calm,” Saidi said. Many of the refugees have lived in Lokossa camp 18 kilometres from the border with Togo since April 2005, when around 25,000 people fled political unrest during presidential polls. Some refugees have since returned, but around 19,000 are still in Benin -- around 11,000 of them living in two camps, the remainder with relatives and host families. Local officials said Thursday’s trouble began after refugees held UNHCR’s Saidi and some of his staff for five hours on Wednesday, refusing to let them leave on the grounds they had failed to provide long-awaited refugee cards. The incident led to squabbles with residents of the southern village, who reportedly were already irritated by the behaviour of some of the camp dwellers. The squabbling then degenerated into a free-for-all. Many of the refugees are youths who took part in violent opposition protests last year in Togo, and Benin residents claim that some of the youths behave badly. Some locals say they resent troublemaking foreigners receiving food aid and other assistance. Local officials, who asked not to be identified, said refugees hurled stones at villagers, who turned homemade guns on the refugees. Police were called in to stop the violence.