Joseph Boakai has signed a decree expanding the powers of the Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission to strengthen the country’s response to refugee, migration, and statelessness issues. Issued from the Executive Mansion, the directive updates an earlier framework and aims to modernize Liberia’s migration management system as the country faces evolving population movements. Authorities say these include mixed migration flows, lingering refugee communities, stateless persons in border regions, and the growing return and deportation of Liberian nationals from abroad.
Under the expanded mandate, the commission will coordinate asylum procedures, voluntary repatriation, local integration, and refugee resettlement. It will also oversee migration governance, border reception facilities, and programs to identify and manage cases of statelessness. Officials say the body will collect migration data, conduct research, and establish early-warning systems while advising the government on national migration and refugee policies.
The decree also introduces a transitional arrangement ahead of the planned establishment of the Liberian Commission for Refugees and Migration (RAMCOL), which will assume broader responsibilities once formally created. Funding for the initiative will be mobilized by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, while the commission will work with international partners and provide regular progress reports to the president during the decree’s one-year implementation period. Authorities say the move aims to strengthen humanitarian protection, national security, and social cohesion.
