Last voluntary repatriation convoy for Liberians from two Guinea camps
UNHCR has run a final voluntary repatriation convoy for Liberian refugees at Guinea's Kountaya and Télikoro refugee camps and the facilities will be formally closed later this month after the remaining refugees have been relocated to other camps. Kountaya was once home to thousands of Liberian refugees.
CONAKRY, Guinea, September 4 (UNHCR) - UNHCR has run a final voluntary repatriation convoy for Liberian refugees at Guinea's Kountaya and Télikoro refugee camps and the facilities will be formally closed later this month after the remaining refugees have been relocated to other camps.
Friday's convoy, part of UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme for Liberian refugees, left the camps in southern Guinea's Kissidougou district carrying 297 people. It stopped at the Makona River, where the refugees crossed into Liberia by boat.
A further 3,000 Liberian refugees at Kountaya and Télikoro did not want to go home. UNHCR and local authorities began relocating these refugees to other camps on Monday and the process should be finished later this month, when the camps will be closed.
"The closing of the [UNHCR] office in Kissidougou at the end of September will also be a landmark in the fulfilment of UNHCR objectives in Guinea," said Sergio Calle-Norena, UNHCR's deputy representative in the country. The refugee agency has been helping Liberian refugees in the area for 18 years.
Kountaya once held thousands of Liberian fugitives from the devastating 1990s civil war in their homeland. The Liberian government and UNHCR have been encouraging the refugees to return home, especially since the holding of democratic elections last year.
Kumba Hawa, who fled to Guinea in 1994, was among the last group of returnees. She spent six years in Kountaya and returned home to the town of Foya with her children, but no husband to provide for them.
"I am anxious for my five children - I hope that God and goodwill will help me to send them to school. I hope I'll be able to provide for them as soon as possible," said the single mother, who will receive assistance from UNHCR and its partners in rebuilding her life in Liberia.
Friday's movement was the 61st and final convoy of Liberian refugees from the Kissidougou region since May last year. Since the beginning of the organised voluntary repatriation programme in November 2004, more than 38,000 Liberians refugees have been repatriated with UNHCR assistance.
There are still more than 33,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea. Almost all of them are in refugee camps located along the mutual border between the two countries.
Related news and stories
UN warns of worsening conflict and displacement in Sahel without immediate climate action
UNHCR applauds Liberia for removing gender discrimination from its nationality law
Côte d'Ivoire welcomes returning families as refugee status set to end
UNHCR's Grandi joins Ivorian refugees on the last leg of their journey home
A refugee and advocate reflects on being a Black woman in the US
Ivorians return home ahead of their refugee status coming to an end
Your search for « last voluntary repatriation convoy for liberians for two guinea camps » matched 102 results. Displaying page 1 of 12 pages.
-
Last voluntary repatriation convoy for Liberians from two Guinea camps
4 Sep 2006 ... run a final voluntary repatriation convoy for Liberian refugees at Guinea's Kountaya and Télikoro refugee camps and the ... of democratic elections last year. ... border between the two countries.... -
UNHCR Côte d'Ivoire Situation Update, 29 November 2011
29 Nov 2011 ... for a one week visit. • Joint Assessment Mission to River Gee and Maryland counties in Liberia. Voluntary repatriation convoy at Bahn refugee camp, ... Movement Country Guinea Burkina Faso Mali ...... -
Guinea: Liberian repatriation to go ahead despite general strike tensions
26 Jan 2007 ... Guinea over the last two weeks has limited our access to camps hosting Liberian ... ahead with a voluntary repatriation convoy tomorrow ... to return to Liberia from Guinea since the ...... -
More and more Liberians returning home from Guinea
20 Jul 2006 ... two largest convoys of returnees since the UN refugee agency launched its voluntary repatriation programme for Liberians in October 2004. The number of Liberians repatriated from Guinea with UNHCR ...... -
Africa Newsletter (focus on HIV/AIDS)
30 Apr 2006 ... a report on the last repatriation convoy. It‘s only about 325 refugees who left Oru refu- gee camp for a “dignified return” to Liberia. ... The fact is that we are talking about voluntary ...... -
Liberians repatriate from Guinea, IDPs set to return
29 Oct 2004 ... The truck convoy, carrying 193 returnees from Lainé camp in the Nzérékoré region of Guinea, will cross over into Liberia at Ganta, in Bong County. Guinea is the largest country of asylum for ...... -
UNHCR and Liberia resume repatriation of Ivorians after Ebola hiatus
18 Dec 2015 ... the voluntary repatriation of tens of thousands of Ivorian refugees from Liberia. The returns had been interrupted for more ... Some 11,000 of the 38,000 Ivorian refugees in Liberian camps have ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Sierra Leone
1 Jun 2005 ... tarian assistance to camp-based Liberian refugees ... resettlement; pre- pare for organized repatriation of Liberian refugees to begin as ... Two international NGOs funded and managed the health ...... -
Liberia repatriation
28 Sep 2004 ... One of UNHCR's largest voluntary repatriation efforts in ... the governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and ... was signed for the return of refugees from Ghana. Two weeks ago, the Liberian government ......