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Refugees return home from Liberia

    ABIDJAN

    The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, began on Wednesday the voluntary repatriation of thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees from Liberia.

    A convoy of 12 vehicles took 243 refugees, among them unaccompanied children, from Sinje refugee camp in Liberia to the southeastern Sierra Leone town of Kenema, Lawrence Mgbangson, senior processing officer at UNHCR Liberia, told IRIN. Another convoy carrying between 300 and 400 refugees is due to make the same journey on Friday, he said.

    UNHCR in Freetown reported on Wednesday that an initial 6,198 Sierra Leoneans had pre-registered for repatriation. In Sierra Leone, those who opted not to receive assistance in camps are to be given non-food items and two months' food rations.

    The voluntary repatriation of refugees from Liberia has come on the heels of a recent upsurge in fighting between Liberian government troops and dissidents calling themselves Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy.

    In another development, UNHCR said it was helping to repatriate an average of 500 Sierra Leoneans from Guinea each week.

    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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