-UNHCR says Ivory Coast accounts for 98% of refugees remaining in Liberia
By William Selmah wselmah@gmail.com
Latest report released by the Liberia Office of the UNHCR shows that Ivorian refugees constitute 98% of 9,206 refugees currently living in this country.
Of said number, 9,097 are from Ivory Coast. Various nationalities constitute 71 and asylum seekers, 38.
The release of former Ivorian President appears to be the latest factor impacting voluntary repatriation of Ivorian refugees, according to the UNHCR.
“While several have expressed joy about the release of Gbago, others cite insecurity as the reason not to return home,” the refugee agency reports in its Fact Sheet.
The former Ivorian President, along with aide Charles Ble Goude was ordered released by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in early February as he awaits trial, after serving seven years in pre-trial detention. But part of the conditions for his release includes returning to court for a possible prosecution appeal against the acquittal.
He was arrested by UN and French backed forces in the aftermath of the 2011 post-election violence, charged with murder and gang-rape in a crisis that left at least 3000 dead and half of the country’s population displaced.
In a separate development, the UNHCR Liberia Office has selected focal points in all offices for Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA, with each of the refugee camps having complaint boxes as well as a hotline to talk directly to focal points, as part of its community service programs.
Informative brochures are also being developed in French and English under the venture.
In local integration, the refugee agency reports that “on 4 January 2019, UNHCR, LRRRC and the Ivorian leadership distributed 217 plastic bags of used clothes for adults living in urban communities. As part of the local integration process of refugees in Liberia, UNHCR donated 3,000 folders to LRRRC on 16 January 2019”, the UNHCR said in its latest Fact Sheet”, among several other support programs to refuges and local community residents. It is also in the concluding phase of the construction of 12 durable housing units in Bahn, Nimba County.
Despite all of those undertakings, the UNHCR says it has a funding gap of 10.9 million dollars for its Liberia program; receiving only 1% of 11 million dollars requested.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR report has indicated improved security along Liberia’s frontiers.
“The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) reported no issues in cross-border activities”, it said following a meeting the refugee agency and the LRRRC held with the refugee population to share information on the local integration program, LWC closure in 2019 and to highlight the continuation of voluntary repatriation.