Military release arrested refugees

UNHCR obtained the release on Wednesday of 499 refugees arrested on suspicion that insurgents might have infiltrated the group at a camp in southern Guinea, a UNHCR official told IRIN. Guinean troops arrested the refugees on Monday amidst persistent rumours of an impending rebel attack on Kissidougou, 392 km east of Conakry. The UNHCR said it intervened to free the refugees, who have now been taken back to their camp at Massakoundou, nine km west of Kissidougou. “Four [more] of the refugees are still in custody,” UNHCR Information Officer Fati Kaba said. Massakoundou is home to just under 15,000 refugees, mostly from Sierra Leone. Guinean troops make arrests and conduct checks whenever they suspect rebels have infiltrated refugee populations. “However, there have never been rebels among the refugees,” she said. Rebels first invaded southern Guinea in September 2000, forcing tens of thousands of mostly Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees, as well as their Guinean hosts to flee. Infuriated by these attacks, Guineans - who for years had accepted the refugees - became hostile. This prompted many refugees to return home. “Some break out of the camps and make their way to Conakry to be repatriated,” Kaba said.