Thousands of Liberians and Sierra Leoneans detained

Thousands of Liberian and Sierra Leonean nationals were being detained on Monday in Guinea after security forces and mobs of Guinean youths hunted them down over the weekend in reaction to a series of cross-border attacks on Guinean villages. “It’s been quite terrible, difficult and quite unfortunate,” Ba-Foday Suma, a Sierra Leonean working with the non-governmental organization ABC Development in Conakry, told IRIN on Monday. “Even speaking English could be reason enough for being arrested.” At least 5,000 Liberians and Sierra Leoneans are being held in community centres and police stations, according to an initial assessment by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but fewer detentions were made on Monday. While security forces were detaining other West Africans, they also arrested youths, some of whom were depicting themselves as soldiers and were rounding people up, Suma said. “This was not done by authorities alone, but by neighbourhood thugs, bandits and so on,” he added. The Guinean government on Sunday began broadcasting messages to restore calm after statements President Lansana Conte made on Saturday were interpreted by Guinean youths as a call to militancy. Beatings of detainees have been reported. Nearly 500,000 refugees from neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone are living in camps in Guinea, which are under military protection. The harassment stems from recent attacks by armed men from across Guinea’s border that have left dozens dead. “What we at UNHCR want is a solution that will answer the legitimate security concerns of the Guinean government and respect the rights of refugees,” Fatoumata Kaba, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Conakry, told IRIN on Monday. “So all the discussions we have been having and will have with the Guinean government will be in that sense.” Most of the Liberians and Sierra Leoneans have not eaten since Saturday. UNHCR is trying to provide food and find a safe place for the detainees, some of whom are not refugees but migrants who have lived in Guinea for years. The Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security, which handles refugee affairs, plans to screen the detainees and send those who are not legally settled in Guinea to refugee camps, Kaba said. Sierra Leone sent a boat to retrieve nationals who wanted to return home but Guinean authorities refused to let it dock. Kaba said UNHCR will not help to repatriate Sierra Leoneans because their country is still unsafe. At least 3,000 Sierra Leoneans are camped at their consulate in Conakry. Liberians, however, have not asked for help from their government, despite offers by President Charles Taylor to send an aircraft to retrieve them. He has accused Guinea of harbouring dissidents he says want to overthrow him.