Fifty-seven Sierra Leonean refugees left Conakry, Guinea, on Wednesday to resettle in Australia, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported.
The refugees - whose final destination is the western city of Perth - are part of a group of 132 Sierra Leoneans cleared to resettle in Australia, IOM spokeswoman Niurka Pineiro told IRIN on Thursday. The remainder are due for resettlement in Australia in the next two months. They will eventually be eligible for citizenship if they meet Australian immigration requirements.
IOM reported that five Sierra Leonean refugees resettled in Australia in 1995. The organisation expects 200 will have resettled there by the end of this year. Another 200 are expected to go to Europe. An equal number are to go to Canada and 1,500 are to be resettled in the United States.
Tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans fled to Guinea since the early 1990s because of war, which has now spilt over into border areas in southern Guinea.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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