Rescue launched for Liberian refugees on drifting ship

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Wednesday that it had chartered a ship to rescue 253 Liberian refugees returning home from Nigeria, whose vessel had broken down and was drifting off the coast of Cote d'Ivoire. UNHCR spokeswoman Fatoumata Kaba told IRIN that the Nigerian ferry Dona Elvira sailed from Lagos on 3 May and picked up more Liberian refugees in Accra, Ghana on its way to the Liberian capital Monrovia. She said the ship suffered engine failure on Tuesday when it was 30 km off the port of San Pedro in western Cote d'Ivoire, but strong winds had since blown it 240 km out to sea. Kaba said the Dona Elvira had since been sighted by French military helicopters sent out to search for it. The UNHCR had chartered a cargo vessel in San Pedro which had set off to rescue those on board and it was due to rendez vous with the Dona Elvira on Thursday, she added. Kaba said conditions on board the Nigerian vessel were dire since its distresed passengers had run out of food and water. UNHCR had pre-positioned staff in San Pedro to assist them as soon as they reached dry land, she added. Last January, another aging Nigerian vessel carrying more than 200 Liberian refugees home from Ghana, also broke down at sea. They were eventually rescued by a Dutch naval vessel attached to the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia. Neither of these two refugee boats had been chartered by the UNHCR. The refugee agency is trying to persuade more than 300,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and other West African countries to wait until the rainy season is over in October before returning home in an orderly UN-supervised repatriation programme. However, many have been unwilling to wait. UNHCR reckons that about 50,000 Liberian refugees have returned home spontaneously since the 14-year civil war in Liberia came to an end last August. Most of the returnees have travelled overland from Guinea and Sierra Leone. However, even some of those returning overland have also run into trouble. Earlier this month, UNHCR had to fly home 229 refugees driving home from Ghana after their convoy of cars and buses was denied entry to Guinea. The refugees remained stuck on the Malian border for several weeks until they were finally flown to Monrovia from Bamako on UN planes.