A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

change left many who arrived in Buduburam after the initial waves in the 1990s with an uncertain
legal status in Ghana and without entitlement to assistance from UNHCR. 208 A backlog of cases
exists, and many Liberians are not even aware of whether their status determination has ever been
made. 209 Meanwhile, those in Buduburam try to make ends meet while dealing with their memories
of war.
Every day at Buduburam is harder than the day before, and nobody at the
camp can help me. When I first arrived, I sold bags of water so that I could
go to school on the camp. Now, there are many days when I don’t bathe or
eat, and when I beg for my food. I’m haunted and permanently depressed by
the loss of my family, and feel deep sadness whenever I see other people’s
kids on the camp. 210
All those who fled Liberia have suffered the same devastating trauma described in the previous
sections of this report. The mental health consequences of that trauma go largely unaddressed. The
need for psychological counseling for refugees was clear in TRC statements, and statement givers
themselves identified the need for counseling assistance. 211 An illustrative case is that of a middle-aged
Liberian man who had been a soccer player and had managed his family’s business before the war. 212
Two of his former employees led a raid on his home during which NPFL rebels killed his father and
aunt, raped his sister, and beat his children and threatened to throw them into his burning house. The
rebels repeatedly slashed him all over his body with a cutlass. He and his remaining family were saved
only by an attack from an opposing rebel force. 213
This man described the daily suffering and mental strain he endures as a result of the torture he
experienced: 214
I am very nervous whenever I see people with [fire]arms, police on camp for
example. I start to have flashbacks when I see them. I have nightmares over
and over. I can’t trust anyone anymore because the people who did this were
my employees. I get splitting headaches with the flashbacks that take days
to go away. It happens every couple of weeks. The pain in my legs is pretty
constant. It is triggered just from walking. 215
This man’s situation is demonstrative of a high rate of psychosomatic illness and depression in
Buduburam. 216 Statement givers describe feeling “pressure,” chest pain, feeling weak or faint, night
sweats, and other symptoms. One woman reported feeling “dead” ever since she saw her brother
tied up and thrown into their burning home. 217 A young man told the TRC that he used to work as
a brickmaker but that now the pain from the beatings he received during the war keeps him from
working. 218 “The sounds of war, gunboats, and airplanes are always in [my] head. They are terrible.”
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