Refugee agency raises alarm

The US Committee for Refugees has warned that serious concerns remain for the safety of nearly half a million refugees in Guinea, even though the government has eased a crackdown on Liberians and Sierra Leoneans. The Washington-based refugee agency said on Wednesday that Guinea's tradition of relative hospitality toward refugees had been eroded due to attacks by armed men from Liberia and Sierra Leone. "The recent pattern of cross-border incursions could trigger new population upheavals and exacerbate regional destabilisation in West Africa unless checked," the refugee agency said. Last weekend, Guinean security forces, as well as militant youths, detained about 5,000 suspected refugees in Conakry and there were reports of beatings and rapes. The detainees were released by Wednesday but insecurity lingered. "There is total panic, arising from the continued heavy artillery deployed by the Guinean troops along the border," where refugees are camped and the most recent attacks on Guinean villages have occurred, according to a humanitarian source in Conakry. "The population, including the refugees, do not believe the explanation that this terrible noise is produced by the Guinean forces and that the rebels cannot advance any further."