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UNHCR calls for help to repatriate refugees

    ABIDJAN

    The UNHCR has urged the international community to pay for the
    repatriation of Liberian refugees in Guinea, some 32,000 of whom have registered this year with the UN agency to return home voluntarily.

    The refugees are to be moved from Nzerekore in southeastern Guinea.

    UNHCR representative in Guinea, Chris Ache, said there were still another 130,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea. He said they strongly desired to return home after as many as 10 years in exile.

    Repatriation was suspended in August 1999 after the closure of the Guinea-Liberia border. However, over the past 11 days at least 2,100 Liberians have returned home. Another 700 were due to go back home on Wednesday.

    However, the agency said it was not encouraging the return of Liberians to the northern county of Lofa because of insecurity there. Other counties pose no security risk.

    The refugees first arrived in Guinea when a civil war broke out in Liberia in December 1989. UNHCR was unable to launch a return operation until the end of 1997. At that time, there were about 400,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea, UNHCR said.

    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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