UNHCR concerned about refugees' security

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed extreme concern about the security of thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees in camps situated near battle lines in Liberia, where fighting intensified last week.

Refugees in the Sinje camps, near Liberia's border with Sierra Leone, are said to be "very anxious" about the deteriorating situation, UNHCR said in a statement on Monday.

Last week's fighting in Gbah and Medina, halfway between Sinje and the Liberian capital, Monrovia, effectively cut off the main road from the camps to the capital, the agency said.

In addition to their usual refugee population of 11,000, Sinje I and II camps now host about 8,000 internally displaced Liberians, plus an unknown number of local residents frightened by the fighting, UNHCR said.

According to the refugee agency, the camps have reportedly received frequent visits from agitated government soldiers and militiamen, allegedly visiting family members or searching for dissidents.

As a result of the fighting, UNHCR has been unable to access Sinje camps for more than two weeks, and has only been able to establish regular radio contact with refugee leaders there. However, fuel for the camps' generator is running out quickly, the agency added.

UNHCR said the situation was similar in Zuannah camp, northeast of Monrovia, which has 3,000 Sierra Leonean refugees, and where some 5,000 Liberians have arrived in recent weeks.

The camp, UNHCR said, is situated along a small forest track that has been used by people fleeing fighting in Gbah, Medina, Tubmanburg and Kle Junction, a well-known landmark 35 km north of Monrovia.

Although Zuannah, like other camps in Montserrado County, was still accessible by road, the delivery of assistance to refugees had slowed down considerably due to the large numbers of displaced Liberians among them, UNHCR said.

Security was also tight around Samukai, another refugee camp northeast of Monrovia with 5,000 refugees, the agency said. The camp is situated on a strategic road between Monrovia and Gbarnga which the government suspects could be used by dissidents attempting to enter the capital.

Heavily armed security forces conduct frequent patrols in the area and numerous checkpoints have been set up around the capital, UNHCR said.

The Liberian government on Monday announced it had reclaimed Gbah and Medina, which were reportedly under rebel control for brief periods before the weekend, UNHCR noted, adding that commercial transport was said to be running on Monday along the main road leading to Monrovia.

It reported refugee leaders from Sinje I and II camps as having used this opportunity to travel to the capital to meet with UNHCR officials to discuss the situation. In view of the increasing insecurity, they had been advised last week to monitor developments and make a decision to head for Sierra Leone should fighting near the camps endanger the lives of the refugees, UNHCR said.

The inaccessibility of the road from Monrovia to Sinje, which continues on to the Sierra Leonean border, means that land repatriations to Sierra Leone, which were suspended during elections in that country but could have now resumed, are impossible for now.

UNHCR was making plans to hire a ship from Guinea to transport refugees by sea from Monrovia to Freetown in Sierra Leone, the agency said. The ship, which can transport fewer than 200 people a week, would be a temporary measure, pending the reopening of the Monrovia/Sierra Leone road, it said.

It added that field officers had travelled to all camps in Montserrado county except Sinje to resume official registration for repatriation.

Although only 400 refugees remained on the list for repatriation after the last convoy left at the end of April, more were expected to register now due to the heightened tension.