Liberian refugees return home after UN rescue at sea

A group of 225 Liberian refugees have arrived from Ghana and returned to their homes - some for the first time in 10 years - after United Nations peacekeepers rescued them from their distressed ship.

The refugees, who were brought ashore on Saturday near the capital, Monrovia, by Dutch peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), have since reunited with family members and friends.

"Everybody is so excited," the chairman of the returning refugees, Christopher Bailey, said after reaching Liberian soil. "We want to go see our families; we want to go home. I myself want to see my father and my sisters."

The group of refugees, who included about 60 children and many pregnant women, had been stranded at sea for four days on their ship, the El-Shaddai, when they were rescued last Thursday. The refugees had been returning from Ghana when their ship's engine failed.

For several children, it was their first time in Liberia - they had been born in Ghana. One married couple was also reunited as a result of the refugees' return.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided trucks to take most of the refugees home to their families. Some 20 others who did not have an immediate place to go were escorted to a shelter.

(An earlier report from UNMIL indicating that 265 refugees had been rescued was incorrect.)