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Refugees flee northern insecurity

    ABIDJAN

    Growing insecurity in northern Sierra Leone is leading more people to seek safety in neighbouring Guinea, UNHCR said yesterday (Thursday). In a statement received by IRIN, UNHCR said 1,360 refugees had arrived in Guinea’s Kindia prefecture, some 150 km east of the capital Conakry, between 7 and 25 January. The statement said most had fled the Makeni and Kamakwie areas of northern Sierra Leone after rebels had attacked their villages, burning homes and looting food supplies. The attacks took place after the rebels had been pushed out of Freetown by ECOMOG, it added. Another 1,000 Sierra Leonean refugees who had fled to Guina from Freetown and other areas of the country since 6 January were staying at the Forecariah camp some 100 km from Conakry, a UNHCR spokesman in Abidjan told IRIN today (Friday).

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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