800 refugees arrive in repatriation transit camp

On Thursday more than 800 refugees, from various camps in the interior of the country, arrived at a repatriation transit centre in Conakry, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Friday. The centre, which should normally hold a maximum of 2,000 people, is presently accommodating at least 5,000 refugees. The IOM is shipping the Sierra Leonean refugees home where they will enter other transit centres before resettlement elsewhere. However, the UNHCR has reported that returnees in the Lumpa and Jui transit camps in Freetown have been refusing to vacate the facilities after their initial five-day stay. "This refusal by returnees to move into the temporary settlement sites has created a blockage in the transit centres," the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in Freetown, said in its report of 24 February to 10 March.