Deputy HCR optimistic over refugee return

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Frederick Barton, said he found a strong commitment to peace, stability and eventually refugee return, during meetings last Friday and Saturday with key political players in Sierra Leone, UN spokesperson Kris Janowski reported on Tuesday. Barton was referring to meetings he had on Friday and Saturday with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Foday Sankoh and the former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Johnny Paul Koroma. According to Janowski, Sankoh told Barton: “I started this war so when I say it is finished I know what I am saying.” Prior to arriving in Freetown, Barton was in Guinea where he met Sierra Leonean refugees who asked him when they could return. He said that while their return was unlikely in the immediate future, it was becoming a less remote prospect as peace slowly returned to the country, Janowski reported. Barton, who has also visited Guinea and Liberia, is now in Cote d’Ivoire. On Thursday, he ends his 10-day tour of West Africa, his first survey of field operations since becoming deputy high commissioner in August, the UNHCR said.