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 COME, Benin (AP) - Hundreds of West Africa's newest refugees cower under tents of plastic sheeting, many wondering when — or whether — they will make the trek back to their homeland of Togo, shaken by deadly riots after a presidential-succession crisis.
More than 20,000 Togolese have fled the nation of 5.7 million since April 26, when street battles erupted between security forces and opposition supporters after the announcement that Faure Gnassingbe, son of the country's late dictator, had been declared winner of disputed presidential elections. Gnassingbe was sworn in as president Wednesday.
Nearly two dozen people died in the election-related violence that sent refugees flooding into neighboring Ghana and Benin, where 1,500 have filled a camp at the border town of Come, within walking distance of a motherland some are unsure they want to set foot in again.
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