Humanitarian situation

An estimated 8,000 IDPs have arrived in Segbwema, 250 km southeast of Freetown, over the last three weeks, an official at the United Nations Humanitarian Assitance Coordination Unit {HACU), who was relocated to Abidjan recently, told IRIN today. The official said that movement of IDPs into this area began around the time rebels attacked the northeastern district of Kono in mid-December. There has also been a steady stream of IDPs into the southeastern city of Bo, Sierra Leone’s second largest town. The official said only 300 of the 1,020 newly arrived IDPs will be housed at an MSF camp normally used for cholera cases. Only the most vulnerable are to be sheltered. ECOMOG has been refusing IDPs entry into Bo for fear of rebel infiltration so the IDPs are stopping at Daballa, close to Bo, the official said.