COTE D IVOIRE-LIBERIA: Influx of Ivorian refugees puts strain on war-scarred neighbour

Subject: COTE D IVOIRE-LIBERIA: Influx of Ivorian refugees puts
strain on war-scarred neighbour
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:44:19 -0700

COTE D IVOIRE-LIBERIA: Influx of Ivorian refugees puts strain on
war-scarred neighbour

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


MONROVIA, 11 November (IRIN) - Around 5,000 frightened Ivorians have raced
across the border into eastern Liberia since the crisis in their homeland
erupted last week, putting pressure on a country that is already
struggling to recover from its own civil war and threatening regional
stability, UN officials said.

"We estimate that the number could increase to 10,000 if the situation in
Cote d'Ivoire remains unchanged," Moses Okello, the head of the UN refugee
agency, UNHCR, in Liberia told reporters on Thursday.

An eighteen-month Ivorian ceasefire was shattered last week when the
Abidjan government bombed strongholds in the rebel-held north and moved
its troops into the buffer zone that separates areas controlled by the two
sides. On Saturday, two days into the offensive, Ivorian planes bombed a
French peacekeeping base and France's swift retaliation sparked days of
mob violence on the streets of Abidjan.

Aid workers said they were having trouble reaching the new arrivals from
Cote d'Ivoire, massed in the border town of Butuo, because the roads in
that corner of heavily-forested Liberia were in such poor condition.

"We are preparing to respond to this emergency at the borders. The problem
now is gaining access by road," UNHCR's Okello told reporters.

UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers warned that another tide of refugees would put a
huge strain on Liberia, which is still welcoming back its own citizens who
fled abroad during 14 years of civil war that only came to an end in
August 2003.

"At such a difficult and fragile stage in the rehabilitation of Liberia, a
large influx of new refugees from Cote d'Ivoire would be detrimental,
creating further poverty and instability," Lubbers said in a statement on
Wednesday. "That is why the situation is so worrying, not only for Cote
d'Ivoire, but for the entire region."

Officials in Monrovia said funds allocated to pay for the repatriation of
some 300,000 Liberians scattered around West Africa were also being
drained by the new crisis. "We have to borrow some funding that we have...
for repatriation to be able to respond to the emergency needs of the
Ivorian refugees," Okello said.

It is not just Liberia that is feeling the ripple effect from the latest
Ivorian crisis. The UNHCR said Ghana, which borders Cote d'Ivoire to the
east, had also received hundreds of people fleeing the recent fighting,
including more than 700 immigrant workers.

In Mali, Cote d'Ivoireís northern neighbour, people have also sought
refuge, although in much smaller numbers. An IRIN correspondent in the
border town of Zegoua said only 28 people had arrived by Monday and
virtually all of them were Malians.

Burkina Faso and Guinea, the two other countries that border West Africa's
former economic powerhouse, had yet to report influxes of refugees.




[ENDS]

IRIN-WA
Tel:+221 867.27.30
Fax: +221 867.25.85
Email: IRINWA@IRINnews.org
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by
commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:
http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions/subslogin.asp


U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)