Annan, Lubbers call for safe passage for refugees, relief workers

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, called on Wednesday for safe passage for thousands of refugees and displaced civilians caught up in fighting in Liberia, UNHCR reported. He also urged all sides to allow secure access for humanitarian workers trying to help the victims.

"There are thousands of innocent civilians believed to be hiding in the bush in Liberia who urgently need help," Lubbers said. "I appeal to all parties throughout the region to ensure that humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered to these people, and that those who wish to leave can find safe passage to secure areas."

He made the plea after a meeting in Geneva with visiting UNHCR country representatives from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire, the statement said. The representatives were in Geneva this week for consultations. They were scheduled to brief UNHCR's donors on Friday as part of a new US $10.4 million appeal for emergency assistance to Liberian refugees.

"As Liberian refugee numbers continue to grow, it has become impossible for UNHCR to accommodate their emergency needs within existing programmes," UNHCR reported its director of communication and information, Anne Willem Bijleveld, as saying in a letter to donors.

The letter added that indications were that the situation in Liberia was unlikely to improve and there was a real risk that it could further deteriorate.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also urged both sides in the fighting in Liberia to allow relief workers access to people caught up in the insecurity.

"The Secretary-General urges the dissident forces and the government of Liberia to allow humanitarian workers safe and unhindered access to affected populations," a UN spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. "He calls upon governments of neighbouring states to cooperate in this endeavour."

The statement said Annan "remains profoundly concerned over the heavy toll the continuing fighting in Liberia is taking on civilians and the threat it poses to the stability of other countries in the region, particularly Sierra Leone".

It reported him as reiterating a call to the international community to provide humanitarian agencies with the resources required to respond to the vital needs of the rising number of Liberians who have been displaced both within and outside their country's borders.