1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Guinea

No ban on Sierra Leonean men, government says

Guinea has denied a news report published on Thursday that it had banned men from Sierra Leone from entering the country by sea. The chairman of Guinea's Bureau national de coordination des refugies (National Refugee Coordination Office) told IRIN on Thursday: "Guinea has never, never restricted (the entry of) Sierra Leonean males." The official, Alhousseine Thiam, said there had been cases of boats coming to Guinea with some people requesting refuge and others - businessmen - saying they had no intention of staying. Those requesting asylum, Thiam said, were handed over to the appropriate local agency. The French news agency, AFP, had quoted boat operators in Freetown as saying on Wednesday that Guinea had stopped adult males from entering the country following cross-border attacks by a rebel splinter group calling itself the Sierra Leonean People's Army.

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

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join