Hundreds of Liberian women refugees have been arrested after going nude to protest plans by the Ghanaian government to send them West for resettlement with $100 instead of the $1,000 they are demanding.

"When women strip themselves naked and stand by a major highway, that is not a peaceful demonstration," Interior Minister Kwamena Bartels told the BBC's Network Africa program.

Stripping naked is a traditional form of protest amongst poor and powerless women in Africa. However, according to Bartels, the women violated local laws by failing to inform the police about their protest.

Around 27,000 Liberians fled to Ghana to escape conflicts at home. But Bartels said that the Liberian war had ended in 2003 and the refugees need to go back home. He said it was not forced repatriation but refugees said they were beaten by the Ghanaian police.