# Return of the Togolese Refugees (1994–1997)

URL: https://allhistories.com/togo/timeline/1994-return-of-the-togolese-refugees
Location: Togo–Ghana–Benin border region
Themes: main-event

After the mass flight of 1993, large numbers of Togolese returned from Benin and Ghana in the following years. The US Committee for Refugees reported that half of the refugee population went home in 1994 after a general amnesty, while later persecution drove some to flee again. Improved security and the amnesty led to large-scale returns from 1994 to 1997. The UN refugee agency completed an organised repatriation programme in mid-1997. Wikipedia's History of Togo says most of those who fled had returned by early 1996. The sources give differing totals of how many fled in 1993, from more than 200,000 to more than 300,000. Some people stayed abroad. About 4,000 Togolese came back from Ghana in 1998 even though the programme had ended. At the end of 1999 about 3,000 remained abroad, roughly 2,000 in Benin and 1,000 in Ghana, according to the US Committee for Refugees, though some sources put the total at about twice that. Many were prominent opponents of the government. At this point in the timeline (c. 1994), Gnassingbé Eyadéma took power in the 1967 coup and was President until his death on 5 February 2005; his long rule, its human-rights record and the legitimacy of its elections are assessed differently by different sources; Prime Minister Edem Kodjo (23 April 1994 – 20 August 1996) led the government. Reign dates for this ruler are disputed between sources.

## Why it matters
The return of the refugees closed the largest displacement of the transition, though a core of exiles remained.

Ruler at the Time: [Gnassingbé Eyadéma](https://allhistories.com/togo/rulers/gnassingbe-eyadema-1967)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — History of Togo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Togo)
- [refworld.org — 89317](https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/uscri/2000/en/89317)