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UNHCR reported on Tuesday that it had suspended the transport of Sierra Leonean refugees from the Liberian border to resettlement camps. It said the suspension followed an improvement in the security situation at the Sinje II refugee camp in Liberia and a subsequent drop in spontaneous repatriations.
Security conditions at the camp, located about 80 km north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, have improved significantly since mid-December, when Liberian soldiers were accused of harassing the refugees, UNHCR said.
The alleged harassment, as well as fears that the conflict in Lofa County, northern Liberia, between pro- and anti-government forces could spread to the south where the refugee camps are located, prompted a surge in the number of Sierra Leoneans returning from Liberia in December, the UN agency reported.
It said about 1,700 Sierra Leonean returnees and Liberian refugees crossed the border from Liberia into Pujehun district, eastern Sierra Leone, between mid-December and early January. However, Sinje II also received 1,800 new Sierra Leonean refugees who fled the fighting in Lofa since early December.
Liberia hosts a total of 30,000 assisted Sierra Leonean refugees in six camps, according to UNHCR.
UNHCR said Liberians were also fleeing the clashes in Lofa and crossing into Kailahun, another border district immediately north of Pujehun. A recent UNHCR mission to Kailahun estimated their number at 4,000, with about 800 of them arriving over the past three weeks.
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