More Burkinabes are trooping into Ghana to seek refuge following attacks on their communities by armed insurgent groups.

Last week, hundreds of them arrived in the Pusiga district of the upper east region, weeks after deserting their own communities which they say were attacked by people believed to be members of an armed militant group.

So far, the Ghana Refugee Board has recorded 3,200 Burkinabes in Pusiga in the Upper East Region. The arrival of these refugees is raising security, health and even food security concerns in that part of the upper east region, where some of them are reconnecting with their kinsmen in Ghana. Now, towns close to the border are serving as host communities.

However, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Refugee Board, Tetteh Kwao Padi, explains that the presence of refugees close to the border poses a security threat, as it may attract jihadists into these communities.

“We have registered about 3200 refugees. When they arrived, most of them were in the host communities. In fact, all of them were received by the host communities along the border. We have set up a transit center. The security advises that their presence in the community close to the border is a security threat. So, they should not be close to the border” he stated.

Meanwhile, a lecturer in conflict, Peace, and security at Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr. Victor Doke, warns of humanitarian crisis if government fails to identify asylum seekers.

“In due course or in the near future we are going to have what we call humanitarian crisis on our hands. Now when you look at the report, the women and children having been hosted in houses, this is particularly not right especially when half of the women and children outnumbering the men. There needs to be a centralized place or what we call an area where you can host these asylum seekers” he added.