Repatriation of 35,000 Liberian refugees underway

The voluntary repatriation of 35,000 Liberian refugees from Guinea has begun, but time is short if they are to be back home and on their farms before seasonal rains begin in April. After living for years in camps near the eastern towns of Nzerekore and Kissidougou in Guinea’s forest region, 2,106 refugees returned home voluntarily between 12 and 31 January, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR that is running the programme. “Time is against us,” said Sergio Calle Norena, deputy representative of UNHCR in Guinea. “We need to repatriate as many refugees as possible before the start of the rainy season, which begins in April.” "Furthermore, if the refugees get back in time to plant their own crops then they will be able to avoid a food crisis,” he said. Most of the Liberian refugees in Guinea are from Nimba and Lofa counties close to the border. During the rainy season the region’s roads, many of which are unpaved, become largely impassable for UNHCR trucks. The repatriation programme is part of a scaling-back of humanitarian operations in Guinea, which has provided shelter to some one million refugees from wars in neighbouring Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Cote d’Ivoire. But with the exception of Cote d’Ivoire those wars are over and in principle emergency assistance is no longer needed, humanitarian workers say. Most of the Liberian refugees have been housed in UNHCR camps, but many have integrated into local Guinean communities. Liberia’s brutal 14-year civil war ended in 2003 and a 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping force has disarmed thousands of fighters and restored security to the country, clearing the way for the return of refugees sheltering in countries across the region. UN agencies currently provide food aid and other assistance to 53,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea. Some of those, particularly those who live in camps, also have access to schools and health services. Not all refugees have expressed an interest in returning to Liberia. To date, some 33,000 Liberian refugees have returned from Guinea, with two-thirds of those taking advantage of UNHCR assistance for their return and the rest making their way home under their own steam.