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Attack on Liberian refugee camp prompted over 8,500 to flee
Geneva, July 02: More than 8,500 people have fled Liberia to Sierra Leone since a rebel attack on a camp for displaced people and refugees at Sinje in northern Liberia last month, the UN`s refugee agency said today.
Geneva, July 02: More than 8,500 people have fled Liberia to Sierra Leone since a rebel attack on a camp for displaced people and refugees at Sinje in northern Liberia last month, the UN's refugee agency said today.
Most are Liberians, but they also include Sierra Leoneans who have been living in exile in Liberia, Kris Janowski, spokesman for the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said in Geneva. The refugees have been arriving in Sierra Leone by crossing a bridge spanning the Mano river, which forms the border between the two countries. The numbers crossing daily have fallen from an average last week of 1,300 a day to between 500 and 700 people, Janowksi said. However, aid workers said that there were now more vulnerable people crossing into Sierra Leone, such as the elderly, handicapped people, pregnant women, unaccompanied children and the ill. The attack on the Sinje camp, about 90 kms northeast of the capital Monrovia, was carried out by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) on June 20.
The camp was home to 24,000 Sierra Leone refugees and local Liberians who had fled fighting in the country. Sierra Leone has seen an influx of nearly 40,000 Liberian refugees since the start of the year and about 22,000 of them are living in camps, the Geneva-based UNHCR said.
Bureau Report
Most are Liberians, but they also include Sierra Leoneans who have been living in exile in Liberia, Kris Janowski, spokesman for the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said in Geneva. The refugees have been arriving in Sierra Leone by crossing a bridge spanning the Mano river, which forms the border between the two countries. The numbers crossing daily have fallen from an average last week of 1,300 a day to between 500 and 700 people, Janowksi said. However, aid workers said that there were now more vulnerable people crossing into Sierra Leone, such as the elderly, handicapped people, pregnant women, unaccompanied children and the ill. The attack on the Sinje camp, about 90 kms northeast of the capital Monrovia, was carried out by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) on June 20.
The camp was home to 24,000 Sierra Leone refugees and local Liberians who had fled fighting in the country. Sierra Leone has seen an influx of nearly 40,000 Liberian refugees since the start of the year and about 22,000 of them are living in camps, the Geneva-based UNHCR said.
Bureau Report