UNHCR completes refugee relocation from Parrot’s Beak

UNHCR completed on Sunday the voluntary evacuation of 57,000 Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees from the Parrot’s Beak, an area in southern Guinea that juts into Sierra Leone. “We will no longer provide food, shelter or medical assistance to refugees in the Parrot’s Beak,” David Kapya, UNHCR Representative in Guinea, said. However, refugees who have chosen to remain in the area will still receive legal protection from UNHCR if they are detained or harassed or if their rights are otherwise violated, he added. “We will also give particular attention to separated children in need of reunification as well as women,” he said. From now on, UNHCR says it will only provide material aid to refugees relocated to sites where the government can ensure their safety. The relocations, begun over a year ago, were accelerated in February after an upsurge in fighting in the Parrot’s Beak, then home to about 200,000 refugees. The fighting, which actually began in September 2000, forced tens of thousands of refugees to flee northward and hampered humanitarian access to the area for nearly six months. In addition, locals displayed hostility to the refugees, accusing them of helping the attackers. Before the attacks, Guinea had one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, comprising at least 400,000 Sierra Leoneans and Liberians.