Between 70 and 200 refugees, mainly southern Togolese young men suspected of belonging to the opposition, crossed daily into Benin at Hilakondji, bringing the total there to 19, 272 and the total in both countries to 34,416, up from 33,385 on Tuesday. No new arrivals have been reported in Ghana this week, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

The refugees have talked about abductions and disappearances as the security forces search opposition strongholds by night, creating a climate of fear, it said.

In the camps of Come and Lokossa, sheltering 6,621 refugees between them, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has organized classes at the pre-school, primary and secondary levels for some 1,600 children, using the same textbooks they might have used in Togo.

Some of the teachers, who are also refugees, have received UNICEF training in psycho-social counselling, UNHCR said.

In Ghana, UNHCR is providing tools, cement, doors, windows and roofing materials to improve housing for refugees and their host families. Local communities have also agreed to help build houses out of mud and bamboo, it said.

"Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children." Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese Poet and Novelist)