Liberia Must Balance Humanitarian Duty with National Capacity

By Tiawan Saye Gongloe

Liberia has a long and honorable tradition of welcoming people facing difficult conditions in their own countries. During the Biafra Civil War in Nigeria in the 1960s, Liberia received thousands of Nigerians. During the early years of conflict in southern Sudan, many Sudanese also found refuge here.

Liberia was also a home for Africans during the struggle for independence across the continent and during the liberation struggles in Southern Africa.

I remember students at the University of Liberia, Cuttington University and many high schools who came from Angola, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and other countries. Liberia has also welcomed people from outside Africa over the years.

This tradition is consistent with the very idea upon which Liberia was established: as a place of refuge for formerly enslaved Africans and free-born Black people of African descent seeking freedom and security.

Liberians themselves later became refugees. Since 1980, military rule, political persecution and civil conflict forced many Liberians to seek safety abroad. The United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and many African countries opened their doors to us. We therefore cannot reasonably become a country that rejects people simply because they are facing difficult circumstances elsewhere.

The concern is not whether Liberia should remain welcoming. It should be whether Liberia has the capacity.

In earlier periods, Liberia had a greater capacity to provide basic services for both its citizens and strangers. Today, the country faces serious challenges of unemployment, food insecurity, inadequate healthcare and education, poor housing, limited electricity and inadequate access to clean water.

The situation deserves even greater humanitarian consideration because many of the people being transferred to Liberia are coming from a far better socioeconomic environment than the one they will encounter here.

The question, therefore, is not whether Liberia should close its doors. It is whether we can responsibly provide decent living conditions, healthcare, housing, security and opportunities for those we receive without worsening the hardship already faced by ordinary Liberians.

Liberia should remain a welcoming country. But humanitarian generosity must be matched by humanitarian capacity.