ICRC helps 80,000 IDPs

At least 80,000 people displaced by fighting in southwest Guinea have received aid from the ICRC since September 2000, when insurgents from Sierra Leone began attacking their border settlements, ICRC reported on Thursday. The aid consisted of food, cooking oil and non-food items such as sleeping mats, blankets, soap and jerry cans. The ICRC said the items were just “to help these people regain a measure of self-sufficiency”. Most of the displaced have lost all their belongings and are living with relatives, placing a heavy burden on the already poor host families. ICRC said the displaced were being counted with the help of the Guinea Red Cross to determine which category of IDPs needed aid most urgently. Medical supplies have already been distributed to border health centres and the main hospitals caring for the war-wounded.