[refugee-rights] Resumption of fighting in Liberia results in growing stream of refugees

RESUMPTION OF FIGHTING IN LIBERIA RESULTS IN GROWING STREAM OF REFUGEES - 
UN AGENCY
New York, Jun  7 2002 11:00AM

Fighting has reportedly resumed in northern parts of Liberia, resulting in 
a daily growing stream of displaced people and refugees, the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today.

According to a UNHCR spokesman, the agency was also extremely concerned 
about the refugees located in camps near the capital, Monrovia, who have 
been closed off from any UNHCR assistance since the fighting started 
several weeks ago.

"We have been in contact with them by radio and know that they will run out 
of food and fuel soon," Kris Janowski said at a press briefing in Geneva. 
"Without the green light from the Government on the safety of the road 
leading from Monrovia to the camps, UNHCR cannot undertake any mission to 
provide additional food. We also fear that elements of the fighting forces 
at large in the region might start looting these unprotected refugee areas."

Meanwhile on the other side of the continent, UNHCR and its partner 
agencies have been struggling to help vulnerable Somali refugees in a 
ramshackle border zone camp in northern Kenya, where 17 people, most of 
them children, have died of disease and malnutrition since June 2. Health 
workers there say contaminated water and lack of proper food are 
responsible for cases of diarrhoea and conjunctivitis, Mr. Janowski said.

The spokesman said UNHCR estimated that there were 250 refugee families 
classified as vulnerable in Mandera town and the nearby makeshift camp, 
located a mere 500 metres from the border. A number of families are headed 
by elderly women and many include orphans and disabled persons.

UNHCR staff report that refugee children can be seen everywhere in Mandera 
scavenging for food, begging and trying to find work to help their families 
survive, the spokesman said. Women often have to walk a fair distance in 
search of firewood and refugee leaders fear that this makes them vulnerable 
to abuse.

"The situation on the border has calmed over the past two days, with no 
gunfire reported in the area," Mr. Janowski said. "However, UNHCR continues 
to insist on authorization to move the Somali refugees away from the border 
to existing refugee camps deeper inside Kenya. To date, the Kenyan 
authorities have declined permission to move the group."