Share & more
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers begins a five-nation tour of West Africa on Saturday during which he will first visit southern Guinea, where his agency is trying to save thousands of refugees stranded by fighting between government forces and insurgents from Sierra Leone, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva.
Lubbers will inspect the UNHCR's field operations in Kissidougou from where the agency has launched its efforts to relocate some 250,000 refugees and displaced Guineans away from the fighting in the southern town of Guekedou.
Lubbers leaves Guinea on Tuesday for Sierra Leone. During his two-day stay there he will visit the transit camps for Sierra Leonean refugees returning from Guinea. He will also meet government, UN and NGO officials as well as diplomats. He travels to Monrovia, Liberia, on Thursday then to Cote d'Ivoire where he will remain until Sunday.
Bamako, Mali, is his last stop. During his two-day stay he will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Economic Community of West African States. Mali chairs the 15-member community which is poised to deploy 1,676 troops along the border of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to end the insecurity and protect refugees.
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