WFP assists victims of new displacement

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says it completed on Monday the delivery of emergency food rations to over 9,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled to Klay Junction, about 58 km north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, to escape fighting between pro- and anti-government forces.

Another 2,300 displaced persons were assisted at the weekend at Sinje, 80 km northwest of Monrovia, WFP said. Sinje is also the site of two refugee camps where about 17,100 registered Sierra Leonean refugees receive regular WFP food rations, the UN agency said.

In recent years, fighting between pro- and anti-government forces in the north and northwest have forced tens of thousands of people to take refuge in safer areas within Liberia and in neighouring countries. The most recent displacement started just over a week ago, following rebel attacks around an IDP camp at Sawmill, some 100 km north of Monrovia.

WFP said most of the IDPs were on the move for the fourth time, having been displaced previously from three other camps in the northwest. It said humanitarian agencies were awaiting a decision by Liberia's government on the location of a new camp for the IDPs. The IDPs, mostly women and children, are living in partially destroyed buildings, warehouses or the open air, WFP said.