Fear prevails despite release of detained Liberians and Sierra Leoneans

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday that all West Africans - mainly Liberians and Sierra Leoneans - detained in Guinea at the weekend had been released, but fear of further violence or arrest lingered.

Guinean authorities detained about 5,000 people following three cross-border attacks in a week from Liberia and Sierra Leone which, the government said, left at least 80 people dead. Those detained were screened and released, Chrys Ache, UNHCR's resident representative in Conakry, told IRIN. He said reports of beatings and rapes would be investigated.

"Some people are still afraid of going out because you have some ruthless guys around," a Sierra Leonean humanitarian source in Conakry told IRIN on Wednesday. "You speak with your own Sierra Leonean friends and you don't shout Krio or anything like that when you are out." Krio is a hybrid of mostly English and African languages that is spoken in Sierra Leone.

Evidence of the prevailing fear surrounded the embassy of Sierra Leone in Conakry, where more than 2,000 people were camped.

"Many people in the Sierra Leone Embassy want to go" back to their country, Ache told IRIN. "We are assisting them with food and medical supplies to make sure their situation doesn't deteriorate." He said the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres were also helping in the relief effort.

The UNHCR said on Monday that it would not help repatriate Sierra Leoneans because of the instability and insecurity in their country.