More Liberian refugees moved to camp

UNHCR has moved 433 Liberians to the Nicla Refugee Camp in western Cote d’Ivoire where they will receive a year’s supply of relief aid and means of self-support, UNHCR reported. UNHCR official Abdoulaye Barry told IRIN on Wednesday that the refugees were moved from the western Ivorian towns of Danane, Binhouye and Toulepleu over the last two weeks. Among this group, the UNHCR said, 19 are Sierra Leoneans who fled fighting that began last year along the Guinea-Sierra Leone border. By the end of August another 1,200 Liberians are due for transfer to the camp which now holds half its 10,000 inmate capacity, Barry said. Refugees who agree to move into the facility are cared for by the UNHCR and other aid agencies. Those who do not must fend for themselves. UNHCR - in partnership with WFP, the NGO CARITAS and the local authorities - ensures that new arrivals are given a plot of land, construction material, kitchen sets, mats and blankets and a year’s supply of food. Some 4,563 Liberians, many of whom are fleeing fighting in northern Lofa and Bong counties, have arrived in Danane and Guiglo, since early May, UNHCR reported. Cote d’Ivoire designated Danane and Guiglo refugee reception areas in the early 1990s to host Liberians fleeing their civil war from 1989-1996. Cote d’Ivoire still hosts at least 122,000 refugees, among them Sierra Leoneans.