Last of the war-displaced head home

One by one the temporary homes built of mud, thatch and plastic sheeting that housed more 300,000 Liberians displaced by war are being dismantled as the government and aid workers help families back to their villages. Most of the displaced that lived at Salala, the largest single camp for displaced people which at its height sheltered nearly 30,000 people in central Liberia, have already left pulling down their temporary homes as they went. Janneh Zizi, a 40 year old mother of three, is eager to pack her few belongings and quit camp life for good. “There is time for everything and now it is time for us to return home. I am happy that peace is here in Liberia and we will see how best we can reconstruct our towns and damaged houses,” Zizi, who is from northern Lofa county, told IRIN. “It is better to sleep on the bare floor in my own town than to sleep in a mud hut in a displaced camp. I am happy to go home and whatever I find there I will start life from there.” Government and aid agencies began the resettlement process in November 2004 and since then almost all the internally displaced people (IDPs) living in 35 camps across the country have been assisted with transportation home and supplied with cooking utensils and other basics to help them get back on their feet. Most of the 314,095 registered IDPs came from counties which saw the heaviest fighting like Lofa, Gbarpolu and Bomi which were ravaged as rebel fighters marched south on the capital Monrovia from bases in Guinea to the north. Many also came from central Bong county, the one-time base for former Liberian president Charles Taylor during his early rebel days. The 14 years of on-off fighting ended with a 2003 peace deal and 15,000 UN peacekeepers guarantee security nation-wide. The newly elected government has promised to resettle all the country’s IDPs before the end of June in its “First 150 Day Action Plan” - a five month development agenda to get post-war reconstruction underway. But the promises of security aren’t enough for some people to leave the camps before the end of June target and government officials have been lending a hand to encourage the stragglers to pack up and go. “The good will of the international community will not last forever….you have to go back home to help in the rebuilding of our country,” the Vice President Joseph Boakai said in Salala this week. Some of the IDPs told IRIN that they would rather remain among the ruins of the camp than trek home and face the mammoth task of rebuilding their war-destroyed village. “No one can remain here forever, but the war brought some of us down completely, our houses we suffered to build were destroyed,” said David Sumo, whose hut stands alone among the destroyed shells of his departed neighbours’ homes. “If we go home now where would we live?”