Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Sierra Leone

Guinea frees 120 detainees

    ABIDJAN

    Some 120 Sierra Leoneans freed by the Guinean government are now being lodged in UNHCR refugee camps in Kissidougou and Guekedou close to the border with Sierra Leone, a UNHCR told IRIN on Monday.

    Guinea claims that the former detainees were close supporters of the AFRC military junta ousted by ECOMOG in February 1998. They were held in Kandia, 120 km east of Conakry, AFP reported.

    However, a UNHCR spokesman said the Sierra Leoneans were being treated as refugees and that UNHCR had no evidence of their affiliation to the ex-military junta or their participation in human rights abuses.

    The UNHCR has not yet started to discuss the voluntary repatriation of these refugees, the spokesman said. He said it was up to the refugees "to decide whether to go back".

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join