IRC provides emergency food in Albadaria

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has provided more than 13,000 hot meals to refugees in Albadaria, central Guinea, IRC's Timothy Bishop told IRIN on Tuesday. Bishop, who is the committee's West Africa regional coordinator, said the amount was likely to increase substantially since up to 30,000 people are expected. Albadaria is one of the areas to which Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees are being relocated from the region around the southwestern town of Guekedou, where fighting between the Guinean forces and armed dissidents has caused an estimated 1,000 deaths and displaced or isolated more than 150,000 refugees. The relocations started on 6 February but during last week, the speed at which refugees arrived was greater than the rhythm at which food supplies could be distributed. As a result the IRC, which had been asked to provide one hot meal to each of the relocated refugees as they arrived in Albadaria, had to provide multiple meals to avoid an emergency situation, Bishop said. However, by Friday the distribution backlog had been resolved and refugees at the Albadaria camp now have dry food supplies to last them at least two weeks and possibly more, UNHCR spokesperson Delphine Marie told IRIN. Food, including bulgur wheat, lentils and oil, was also distributed last week to other camps in the Kissidougou and Faranah districts.