Relief agencies express concern while providing help

Relief agencies continued this week to help people affected by the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire while expressing concern at the plight of vulnerable populations. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was worried by the continuing demolition of shantytowns in the commercial capital, Abidjan, which was causing the displacement of more Ivorians, immigrants and refugees. "We understand the government's security concerns, but are appealing to the authorities to minimise displacement and identify alternative and secure sites for those made homeless by the destruction," Delphine Marie, UNHCR's spokesperson, said at a briefing on Tuesday in Geneva. Despite an announcement by President Laurent Gbagbo on 8 October that the demolitions would be restricted to areas surrounding military installations, other shantytowns have been destroyed, she noted. Marie said UNHCR was planning to organise this week the repatriation by air of some 40 Sierra Leoneans who are among some 1,000 refugees displaced in Abidjan since the unrest in Cote d'Ivoire began on 19 September. The money used by UNHCR to assist the displaced people in five sites had initially been set aside for integration projects for over 70,000 refugees in the west of the country this year. "Now these projects will not be carried out," she said. Marie said that so far, only small movements had been reported across Cote d'Ivoire's borders, mainly of Malians, Ghanaians, Guineans or people from Niger returning to their countries. There was also a group of 1,800 Ivorian refugees temporarily sheltered in Mali, she said. However, UNHCR was worried that large numbers of Liberian refugees could spontaneously return to areas of Liberia which were largely inaccessible, or that they might seek asylum in a third country, she said. There are more than 72,000 registered refugees in Cote d'Ivoire. Most are Liberians while about 2,000 are from Sierra Leone. Other agencies that have been providing assistance include UNICEF. It said in a news release on Tuesday that it had delivered emergency relief supplies to the central town of Bouake and nearby Tiebissou and Sakassou in an ongoing effort to alleviate the conditions of children and women affected by the crisis. The supplies included enough emergency health kits to cover 120,000 persons for three months, milk powder, sleeping mats, blankets and other essential items, the release said. UNICEF said over 1,000 people were arriving daily in the capital, Yamoussoukro, from insecure areas. "Whereas Yamoussoukro had earlier been a transit point for displaced families, it has now become a centre of refuge for fleeing families, causing a great strain on health, education and other social services," it said. The UN World Food Programme, for its part, has launched an appeal for support for the provision of emergency assistance to about 100,000 people affected by Cote d'Ivoire's crisis. "Despite the fragile truce between pro and anti-government forces, the security situation in Cote d'Ivoire remains highly volatile," Manual da Silva, WFP's Regional Director for West Africa said. "All the ingredients are present for a large-scale humanitarian crisis."