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UNHCR suspends refugee relocation

    ABIDJAN

    The relocation of Sierra Leonean refugees from Lofa county, scene of fighting in August-September, to neighbouring Grand Cape Mount has been suspended due to difficult road conditions and dangerous bridges, UNHCR reported on Friday.

    The move, from Tarvey in lower Lofa to Sinje refugee camp in Grand Cape Mount, some 80 km north-west of Monrovia, was suspended on Tuesday, UNHCR said.

    Some 10,000 Sierra Leonean refugees had made the five-day walk southward to Tarvey from camps near Kolahun in upper Lofa, after the fighting between government troops and armed dissidents broke out there in August.

    On 23 September, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), which has a medical team in the area, reported that the transit camp in Tarvey was overcrowded, with all the associated health risks. Sinje is easier to reach from Monrovia.

    Between 11 September and 4 October, 2,563 Sierra Leonean refugees were transported in 71 trucks from Tarvey to Sinje, UNHCR reported. Ten of the trucks were supplied by WFP.

    A team provided by GTZ, the German technical cooperation agency, has started to fix the three or four parts of the road in most urgent need of repair. WFP trucks loaded with food will go to Tarvey as soon as the work has been completed, UNHCR said.

    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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