UNHCR top official meets President

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Mary Ann Wyrsch, who is on an assessment mission of refugee camp operations in West Africa, on Tuesday met various officials including Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, in the capital, Freetown, the UN reported.

Wyrsch's 10-day mission, which started in Guinea, covers four nations including Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. In Sierra Leone she visited Kenema and Nyandehu to observe the reintegration of returnees and Jimmy Bagbo and Largo camps for Liberian refugees.

She called for more funds and goodwill to help new and existing refugees and returnees in the region. "We all know that last year has not been easy for UNHCR and its partners," said Wyrsch. "Due to a budget shortfall towards the end of the year, budgets had to be cut and West Africa – with all its needs – could not be spared. We were left with little money for refugees and returnees in need."

"In Sierra Leone, however, it is fantastic to see that with so little means and everybody's help, so much has still been done," she added. "We hope that donors will come forward this year and realise the importance of return and reintegration programmes."

UNHCR assisted a majority of the 200,000 Sierra Leonean returnees from Guinea, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and other West African countries, the agency said. It added that at least 100,000 Sierra Leonean refugees were still scattered around the region.

In Guinea, which hosts at least 190,000 refugees, Wyrsch met senior government officials, aid officials, refugee and community leaders. She toured Kissidougou district's Kouankan and Kountaya camps – where a majority of Sierra Leoneans are hosted – and Nzerekore district's Laine camp for Liberian refugees and requested the Guinean government to set up more transit camps to accommodate the recent exodus from Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire.

Meanwhile, in Liberia – where Wyrsch is scheduled to visit on Wednesday – an influx of people continues to arrive from strife-torn Côte d'Ivoire, UNHCR said. Some 13,000 new arrivals were reported in recent days which could bring to at least 79,000 the number of returnees and refugees fleeing to Liberia since rebel fighting spread to western Côte d'Ivoire in mid-November.