UN continues evacuating Sierra Leonean refugees from troubled Guinea area

A massive evacuation of Sierra Leonean refugees from an isolated and troubled area of Guinea is gaining momentum, according to a spokesman for the United Nations agency carrying out the task.

Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva today that the agency, which has already ferried hundreds of refugees from the Parrot's Beak region to a transit camp at Katkama, will next move those people to a safer camp further inside Guinea.

"Some refugees who arrived in Katkama on the first two convoys from Kolomba expressed relief at being relocated away from the border areas, noting they had regularly heard gunshots coming from the direction of Sierra Leone," he said.

Refugees have also been asking UNHCR staff about schooling opportunities, food, shelter and work prospects in the new sites, which are located some 200 kilometres away from the volatile border area, he added.

The Parrot's Beak, a stretch of Guinean territory that extends into Sierra Leone, has been largely cut off from humanitarian aid since last September because of fighting in the region. UNHCR's massive relocation effort, announced on 27 April, aims to shelter the Sierra Leoneans in six camps inside Guinea which have a combined capacity of 100,000 refugees.