Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Sierra Leone

Overland repatriations from Guinea resumed

    ABIDJAN

    The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday that it had resumed overland repatriations from Guinea, suspended at the end of June because of logistical constraints. Some 116 Sierra Leoneans returned home on 12 August in the first convoy, UNHCR said in its latest weekly update on Sierra Leone.

    The agency said the current projection was to repatriate 500 persons every 10 days. The next convoy was expected to arrive on Thursday, a source told IRIN.

    While the overland programme is just resuming, repatriation by sea has been ongoing. The MV Overdeck successfully completed its sixth voyage on Saturday, carrying 272 passengers on board. The trip brought the total of returnees by sea to 1,807, UNHCR said.

    Another repatriation project is the return of Sierra Leoneans living in Nigeria. According to UNHCR, the first flight will arrive at Lungi Airport on 28 August.

    UNHCR also announced that a programme to relocate people from camps in the Freetown area to the eastern district of Kono began last week. Thus far 1,424 persons have been relocated. Thousands more are awaiting relocation in other parts of the country.

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join