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Guinea sees end of one return programme, start of another
30 Aug 2004 Now that UNHCR has ended return convoys to Sierra Leone, the agency and the Guinean government are helping the remaining Sierra Leonean refugees to integrate locally. At the same time, UNHCR has started a campaign to inform Liberian refugees in Guinea about their options for return, starting in October. -
Liberian refugees take first steps towards new life in US
26 Aug 2004 Sixteen Liberian refugees have left years of exile in Sierra Leone to start afresh in the United States under a resettlement programme that started in June. They know that life will not be easy in the beginning, but are eager for the chance to live in peace. -
UNHCR pumps aid where drinking water is rarer than diamonds
25 Aug 2004 Kono district in eastern Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds but poor in clean water supply. UNHCR and partners Peace Wind Japan and World Vision International are working to change that by constructing pump wells in the war-devastated returnee area. -
Liberian returnees find out it takes more than resilience to remain home
25 Aug 2004 Liberians impatient to return home after 14 years of civil war are finding out that it takes more than resilience to begin a new life in their villages in the face of so much destruction, lack of income-earning opportunities and insecurity in some places. -
Plea for Liberian peace in Sarkannedou
11 Aug 2004 Uprooted Liberians are trickling home a year after President Charles Taylor was forced to flee into exile in Nigeria. They are finding their villages in ruins from a devastating conflict that has torn Liberia for 14 years. But with UN troops patrolling the villages, peace is slowly taking hold. -
UNHCR donates ambulance to help recovery of Sierra Leonean town
10 Aug 2004 The $35,000 vehicle offers a shot in the arm for medical care in the north-western town of Kambia, where sick villagers had previously been carried to the hospital on stretchers or motorcycles, often dying before they could get emergency aid. -
New buildings cement school ties among refugees in Sierra Leone
5 Aug 2004 A German television station has helped to fund school buildings for refugees in Sierra Leone's eight camps. When the school term starts in September, children in the camps and host communities will be able to attend classes in proper buildings instead of shelters made of plastic sheeting. -
A Sierra Leonean family comes home
26 Jul 2004 UNHCR followed Ambulai Lumeh and his family as they ended 12 years of exile in Liberia, returning on the last UNHCR convoy to Sierra Leone last week. There were tears and smiles as they arrived back in the village they had left as newly weds - with four children in tow and new challenges ahead. -
Last convoys leave for Sierra Leone as assisted repatriation ends
21 Jul 2004 The last convoys back to Sierra Leone left neighbouring Liberia and Guinea today, ending a huge UNHCR operation that has helped some 178,000 Sierra Leonean refugees to go home.