Liberia's civil war refugees left destitute after decades-old Ghana camp demolished

Displaced settlers take shelter at a local primary school as homes are demolished at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in the Gomoa East District, Central Region, Ghana. March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko

BUDUBURAM, Ghana (Reuters) - Sitting on a tattered mattress amongst the rubble of his former home, Wendell Elijah Mallobe is one of 15,000 Liberian refugees left destitute after authorities in Ghana demolished the camp where he has lived for more than 30 years.

"I don't know anybody in Liberia. Nobody. They burnt the village I was living in," said 55-year-old Mallobe, who arrived in the camp in 1990, after fleeing Liberia's civil war. "My bed, television, clothes - everything I have worked for is gone."