Riot police use tear gas to disperse refugees

Riot police dislodged scores of refugees and asylum seekers from the UNHCR premises in Ouagadougou, which they had invaded to press for more aid from the agency, a UNHCR official told IRIN on Wednesday. The source said protesters had a mix of demands such as resettlement in third countries in Scandinavia and North America. Some complained that the facilities in Burkina Faso, such as housing and daily stipends, were insufficient. The official, based at the UNHCR regional office in Abidjan, said the requests of 140 people under review by the agency would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Many of those expelled from the UNHCR compound on Monday had occupied the main Roman Catholic cathedral in Ouagadougou before being expelled by police about a week ago. Burkina Faso hosts some 600 asylum seekers and refugees, some of whom have lived there for 20 years and hold jobs, the UNHCR official said. The refugees include nationals of Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia and Togo.