UN official ends probe trip

A senior UNHCR official who has been looking into allegations of sexual exploitation of refugees by humanitarian workers in West Africa ended his four-day trip to the region at the weekend. UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner, Kamel Morjane's mission to Guinea and Sierra Leone came a week after the publication of a joint UNHCR-Save the Children UK report, which claimed that refugee children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone had suffered sexual abuse and exploitation at the hands of aid workers and others. The purpose of Morjane's trip, UNHCR said, was to get a first-hand view of efforts planned or underway to strengthen the protection of young refugees following publication of the report on 26 February. It also aimed to review UNHCR's operations in Guinea and Sierra Leone regarding the facilitated repatriation of Sierra Leonean refugees, UNHCR Sierra Leone reported. While in Sierra Leone Morjane travelled to Jendema, on the Liberian border, to assess the Liberian refugee influx and to talk to Sierra Leonean returnees, UNHCR said. He also met with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and representatives from international donors, NGOs and UN communities. Prior to his arrival in Freetown, Morjane spent three days in neighbouring Guinea. He said that he had appreciated the "goodwill and understanding" of the government of Guinea and others as well as the "honesty and outspokenness" of the refugees he had met. "It has strengthened my belief that we can jointly move forward in dealing effectively with the problem of sexual exploitation in the region, and continuing the noble mission for which many people have dedicated their lives," Morjane said before leaving the capital, Conakry, on Friday.