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UNHCR resumes repatriation from Guinea to Sierra Leone
2 Dec 2003 After a three-month break over the rainy season, the UN refugee agency has started helping Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea to go home again. It plans to help close to 1,000 return before the end of the year, ahead of more convoys and a gradual phase-out next year. -
Feature: Keeping young refugees on the ball in Sierra Leone
27 Nov 2003 Working on the premise that children learn best when they are having fun, the Right to Play group has been working with UNHCR to help young refugees in Sierra Leone's camps enjoy games and sport. -
UNHCR seeks to help thousands displaced in north-eastern Liberia
7 Nov 2003 The UN refugee agency is trying to send aid to an estimated 6,000 Liberians displaced by weeks of intermittent clashes in Nimba county. Elsewhere in Liberia, hundreds of people are returning home every day as security conditions improve. -
Thousands of Liberians on Ivorian border poised for return
4 Nov 2003 Some 4,500 Liberian refugees are encamped on the Ivorian side of the border, waiting to return to eastern Liberia as soon as food and medicine become available. However, humanitarian activities are unlikely to be expanded until the area is secured by peacekeeping troops. -
First group of Sierra Leoneans flies home since Liberia peace deal
30 Oct 2003 Ten Sierra Leonean refugee families have left Liberia for home in an airlift organised by the UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme, which are planning twice-weekly repatriation flights to speed up the pace of returns. -
UN team finds all is quiet on Liberia's north-western front
20 Oct 2003 Thousands of displaced Liberians have returned to rebel-held Voinjama in recent weeks, reports a UN mission after the first visit in years. A rebel leader has urged locals to work closely with the UN and aid agencies, which are eager to start emergency relief in the area as soon as possible. -
Refugee band gets on soapbox in Guinea's camps
8 Oct 2003 Discovered in a Guinean camp, a Sierra Leonean refugee band has been entertaining fellow refugees with songs of hope and healing from its "Soda Soap" album, and encouraging them to help rebuild their country. -
Aid agencies move to ease plight of displaced people in Liberia
2 Oct 2003 UNHCR and other aid agencies are working to move more than 150,000 internally displaced Liberians from Monrovia to camps outside the capital. Meanwhile, the UN has eased a security alert, allowing staff to undertake programmes to such places as Totota, Buchanan and Bo Waterside. -
Displaced people return as central Liberia calms down
1 Oct 2003 According to a visiting UN team, fighting has died down in central Liberia and displaced people have been returning to their villages, asking for food and medicine. Rebels controlling the area have promised unhindered access for aid agencies.