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afrol News, 1 October - As the attacks on refugees and other immigrants in Côte d'Ivoire get heavier, it becomes increasingly difficult to protect or even shelter them. The UN refugee agency UNHCR receives a growing number of displaced refugees and expresses its concern. The UNHCR spokesperson Kris Janowski today said that his agency was "desperately looking for new sites to house refugees who continue arriving at our offices in Abidjan after having been burned out of their homes in the so-called 'precarious' districts of Abidjan," the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire. About 50 refugees continue arriving each day at UNHCR's office in the city, Mr Janowski said at a Geneva press conference. "Some spend the night outside our gates, leaving themselves exposed to potential trouble after curfew." UNHCR is now caring for more than 600 refugees in three sites in the Abidjan areas of Koumassi and Deux-Plateaux. The refugees are restless, frustrated and scared. There are many families with six or seven children, often including babies. - In one area in Deux-Plateaux, we had to house over 165 refugees from Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo and Sudan in a single residential house, said Mr Janowski. - Despite having a large garden, the house is clearly too small for such a large group. Men, women and children from different countries try to secure a space for themselves on the lawn or inside the house, where there is no room for privacy. Sanitary conditions are minimal. According to the UNHCR spokesman, the refugees had to leave their houses hurriedly, "often chased off by security forces." Many had no time to take anything with them. Some reported having been robbed of the little money they had. The refugees were traumatised by the events of last week and felt unjustly targeted. There are about 100 Sierra Leonean refugees among those who have lost their homes and several had told the UN agency they now wanted to return to their country. UNHCR was organising their voluntary repatriation, Mr Janowski said. Meanwhile, the situation inside Côte d'Ivoire remains volatile and unpredictable. The government policy of burning shanty towns in the so-called "precarious" districts – particularly around government buildings and military installations – is continuing. This was today confirmed by the UNHCR. - This is causing the displacement of Ivorian nationals, immigrants and refugees, Mr Janowski complained. The UN estimated that more than 6,000 people had now lost their homes and were displaced in Abidjan alone. On Monday, UNHCR and other agencies met with the Ivorian Prime Minister Affi N'Guessan to look at possible solutions to this humanitarian crisis. The government said it was willing to collaborate with all humanitarian agencies and was establishing an emergency cell to deal with the situation.
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