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Refugees camps for safer zones

[Chad] Refugee children from Darfur wile away the hours under makeshift shelters in Bredjing refugee camp, eastern Chad. September 2004.
Claire Soares/IRIN
UN officials expect the number of refugees in Chad to increase by 50 percent before the next rainy season
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plans to move the Tassin refugee camp in Guinea away from the border following a cross-border raid last week by Sierra Leonean rebels. A UNHCR official told IRIN on Tuesday that Tassin, located in the Forecariah prefecture, was one of seven camps due for relocation farther inland and that the move would involve 30,000 Sierra Leonean refugees. In the eastern Guinean area of Gueckedou, some 10,000 of the 50,000 refugees living in vulnerable sites have already been transferred to safer locations away from the border. Together, Guinea and Liberia host at least 400,000 Sierra Leonean refugees. Rebels attacked Tassin between Saturday night and Sunday, the eve of a ceasefire between rebels and the Freetown government. The UNHCR and media sources told IRIN that rebels killed 10 villagers and lost one of their number, a captain. An official of state-controlled Radio Guinea said 13 wounded villagers were taken to an area hospital.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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