UNHCR pleads for regional cooperation

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reiterated a call to West African countries to provide asylum to Liberian refugees, whose protection is not guaranteed in Cote d'Ivoire or in their home country. Liberians constitute the largest refugee community in Cote d'Ivoire. Since the beginning of the Ivorian crisis, thousands have been stranded in the west of the country, where most of them have lived for years. As a result of growing suspicion among some Ivorians, stemming from the implication of Liberians in fighting in the west, some Liberians have been harassed and feel unsafe. "We have been pressing countries in West Africa to accommodate Liberian refugees who cannot return to Liberia, but so far, there has been no positive response", UNHCR's spokesman, Peter Kessler, said a press briefing on Friday in Geneva. Friday's call followed one made in December to regional governments. The issue was also a key point on the agenda of UN Humanitarian Envoy Carolyn McAskie as she toured Cote d'Ivoire and its five neighbours to assess the impact of the five-month-old Ivorian crisis. Those whom UNHCR would like to relocate include some 7,000 refugees who had been living in the Nicla camp, which is located in the western town of Guiglo, near the frontline between loyalist troops and rebels. On Wednesday and Thursday, a group of 150 Liberian refugees took their frustration to the UNHCR in Abidjan, where they held a demonstration to demand immediate evacuation. According to the agency, they protested against the deteriorating security situation in the country, and their increasing harassment by Ivorian combatants and locals. While UNHCR continues to press for a new host country, it has continued to repatriate those Liberians who have expressed the desire to go back home. So far over 2,000 have gone back through the programme. The agency also estimates that many others have returned home spontaneously. According to UNHCR, some 88,000 people - including 35,000 Ivorian refugees, 43,000 Liberian returnees and third-country nationals - have entered Liberia since the beginning of the crisis. Meanwhile, a curfew in effect since 19 September, when the crisis started, has been extended for two weeks to 2 March. The curfew runs from 22:00 GMT to 6:00 GMT in the economic capital, Abidjan, and government-held areas. In the northern and western "war zones", it runs from 18:00 GMT to 8:00 GMT. The much-anticipated announcement of a new Ivorian government did not take place this weekend as had been announced. The composition of the new cabinet had been the main focus of days of street protests that rocked Abidjan after round-table discussions in late January in Paris, France. The main bone of contention is the attribution of two key cabinet posts to the rebel groups who have been fighting the government of President Gbagbo. After the Paris meeting, the main and oldest of the rebel groups, the MPCI, announced that it had been attributed the ministries of defense and interior. Pro-government supporters have used various means to express their disagreement with the MPCI's eventual inclusion in the government. The rebels, on the other hand, insist on being awarded the two posts promised to them.