Liberia
Liberian refugees stream into neighbour countries

afrol News, 16 May - Judging by the stream of refugees arriving Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Liberia is at the brink of radical change. "Reconciliation rebels" are indeed closing in on the capital Monrovia and heavy fights are registered in several parts of the country. Again, the region is exposed to migrations. 

Tens of thousands of Liberians are again on the move, heading into calm parts of the country or - even safer - on to Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire or Sierra Leone; neighbours that have just resolved their own crises but that already saturated with refugees. Indeed Liberia itself still houses tens of thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees eager to return home.

As the new offensive of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) rebel forces started last week, residents of Liberia's two major cities, Monrovia and Gbarnga, panicked. Gunfight was heard in the outskirts of both towns. Since that, LURD rebels and ill-equipped government forces have fought for the control of the two cities. 

Civilians immediately started leaving the combat zones. Hundreds of Liberians first fled into Côte d'Ivoire, in a second migration into that country this year. At the end of 2001, Côte d'Ivoire was host to some 126,000 refugees, including 122,000 Liberians, many of them in urban areas, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Some 5,000 Liberians have arrived Côte d'Ivoire this year already.

Now, the major stream is into Liberia's northern neighbour Guinea. Up to 10,000 Liberian refugees may be headed for Guinea, hot on the heels of some 3,500 who arrived Monday in Guinea's south-eastern province of Nzérékoré. "Monday's influx into Guinea may represent the largest single refugee movement into the country in years," UNCHR reports. The UN agency has been authorised to set up new camp in the Nzérékoré area to accommodate the new arrivals.

UNHCR's Representative in Guinea, David Kapya, says the majority of those arriving were women, children and the elderly. "There were pregnant women in very bad condition. I asked them where their men were and they told me that many men had been conscripted by rebel forces as fighters or as carrier corps."

So far this year more than 27,000 Liberians have fled their homeland, with 14,000 people entering Sierra Leone, 6,000 arriving in Guinea, and some 4,000 arriving in Côte d'Ivoire. There are now more than 250,000 Liberian refugees throughout the region, mainly in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and other countries. 

Meanwhile, Liberian President Charles Taylor has appealed for calm in the country, claiming that the rebel threat was "heavily exaggerated". The LURD rebels however holds they could take Monrovia any time they choose, but that they are trying to avoid civilian casualties. 

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, yesterday said he was "deeply disturbed" by the human suffering in the Liberian war, according to a UN statement. "The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed. He is also concerned about the implications this might have for the Mano River Union subregion [Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea]." Annan condemned the Liberian rebel attempts to take power by force.

Sources: Based on UN sources, LURD, press reports and afrol archives