The Interior Minister has ordered the striking Liberian refugees at the Buduburam camp to call off their strike or face the law. The Interior Minister, Mr. Kwamena Bartels said the strike was illegal and asked the refugees to respect the laws of Ghana. Mr. Bartels gave the order at a meeting between the refugees, the Interior Ministry and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) held at the Ghana International Conference Centre. Liberian refugees at the Buduburam camp have been on a sit-down strike for some weeks, refusing to be repatriated to Liberia. Their action has led to the closure of schools in the area and stopped the distribution of food items to the elderly. The refugees are making a litany of demands on the UNHCR and the government of Ghana. They say they do not want to be integrated into the Ghanaian society but should be resettled in a Western country particularly the United States. But Mr. Bartels says it amounted to an insult to Ghana for the refugees to reject integration into the Ghanaian society. “Ghana was good enough for them when their country was at war and they needed a place where they can have peace and protection and Ghana is not good for them when the war in their country was over, America was a better country", he pointed out. He told Joy News that the UNHCR had indicated it was not in a position to pay the $1,000 being demanded by the refugees. The Minister said the circumstances that necessitated the presence of the refugees in Ghana had ceased to exist. According to him, the government would invoke the Cessation Clause to compel the refugees to leave the country if they did not stop the illegal strike. Representatives of the refugees at the meeting claimed they were intimidated. They said the heavy presence of armed policemen at the venue was calculated at intimidating them.