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The UNHCR, worried that members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) trying to cross into Guinea from Sierra Leone could create trouble, has proposed that a security camp be set up for the ex-combatants, the UN agency said on Friday.
It said the Guinean authorities continued to restrict entry into Guinea to vulnerable people, suspecting that asylum-seekers, who have been entering Guinea at the rate of about 300 a day, include a "substantial number" of RUF rebels.
Guinean officials said many appeared to be heavily drugged and aggressive.
UNHCR and the Guinean authorities were concerned that the ex-rebels could create trouble in the camps should they be mixed with civilians, some of whom were victimized by the RUF, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said. He said 1,809 refugees had been allowed to enter Guinea since the border was officially reopened on 20 August.
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