UNHCR begins relocation

Twenty-five trucks left the southern Guinean town of Kissidougou on Tuesday for the Parrot’s Beak, from where they are to relocate thousands of refugees, UNHCR said on Wednesday.

The Parrot’s Beak is a volatile stretch of Guinean territory that juts into Sierra Leone. It has been largely cut off from aid because of fighting in the area, which also borders on Liberia.

UNHCR plans to transport some 30,000 refugees from the Beak to safer areas to the north that are more accessible to aid agencies. It said on Wednesday that 1,000 refugees were to be taken in the first convoy from Kolomba, in the farthest tip of the Beak, to the Katkama camp. They are to transit there before relocating to new sites in Dabola and Albadaria districts.

UNHCR said that by Tuesday evening, 600 people had registered to be transported as the agency continued to inform the refugees on the reasons for the relocation. Some are still reluctant to move as they prefer to wait and see if the security situation improves, UNHCR said. The agency hopes that the operation will be completed by the end of May. So far, it has mobilised a fleet of 50 trucks: 25 to transport the refugees from the Beak to Katkama and 25 others to take them to the new sites.

The start of the operation had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed until Wednesday because refugees opposed walking part of the way as had been planned.