UN refugee agency gears up for organized repatriation to Liberia
Two weeks before the start of the United Nations refugee agency's voluntary repatriation project for Liberia, the Government has declared four western counties safe for the return of some of the 340,000 people who fled 14 years of vicious civil war in the West African country.
Although thousands started returning on their own in August 2003, when a peace accord ended fighting between Government and rebel forces, many could not go back to their home areas due to lack of security, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repeatedly urged them to wait for organized convoys starting in October.
By the end of this year, UNHCR hopes to facilitate the repatriation of 100,000 people.
The Liberian Government announced Wednesday that the four counties now meet minimum requirements for safe return - including disarmament of ex-combatants, presence of civil authorities, rehabilitation of basic services and the unhindered presence of humanitarian workers - paving the way home for refugees in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
In addition to ensuring a safe and dignified return for the refugees, UNHCR has been working on reconstruction and rehabilitation projects to help returnees settle back in their home communities. With its partners the agency reconstructed a transit centre for returnees, and is completing work on two others. Clinics are being rehabilitated, as are wells, water and sanitation facilities. Schools are also undergoing reconstruction.
A shelter project in Totoquelleh village has provided a model for rebuilding houses in villages badly devastated by the war. Mary Adams, 40, recently moved into her new house in Totoquelleh, her first real home since she fled her village in 1991 when she lost her parents and husband in the conflict, while her son was amputated by the rebels.
Today, she has remarried, given birth to two more children and adopted a third. But the past continues to haunt her. "I can still see the rebels killing my parents before my eyes," she said. "But when I look at my children and my new house, I see the way forward."