UNHCR Closes Major Transit Centre As More Refugees Relocate Into Camps

Concord Times (Freetown)

22 July 2011

Freetown — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has closed a major transit centre for Ivorian refugees in Maryland County, one of Liberia’s border counties with Côte d’Ivoire.

The Bishop Ferguson Transit Centre, which was established on 31 March when large numbers of Ivorians started crossing into Maryland County, closed on Thursday, 21 July with the last batch of 515 refugees relocating to the Little Wlebo Refugee Camp about 17 km from the transit centre. There were scenes of jubilation as tents were dismantled and refugees boarded trucks for the camp, heartily waving to the place they had stayed over the past few weeks.

“Initially most of us did not want to leave the transit centre and go to the camp,” admitted Jean, 32, adding that the mass movement started when they realized that the camp had far better services and facilities than the transit centre such as toilets, water supply, school for children and even a football field for games and sports, not precluding the opportunity to construct their own houses and live a family life.

The increase in the number of refugee relocation also comes in the wake of incidents of insecurity in some parts of Côte d’Ivoire as dozens of Ivorians continue to cross over into Liberia on a weekly basis. “I don’t know when I will go back to Côte d’Ivoire so it is better to be in a camp than in a transit centre,” remarked Abubakarr, 45.

The UNHCR Head of Field Office, Maryland County, Madam Alice Ballah-Conteh, said the last batch of refugees to relocate was the largest number the UN refugee agency and partners have relocated to a camp in one day since the refugee influx into Liberia. “There are 4,000 refugees in Little Wlebo Refugee Camp, including more 2,500 that relocated over the past three weeks,” she said.

Expressing gratitude to the people of Liberia, the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, donors, UN agencies, NGO partners and UNHCR staff for providing assistance to refugees, the UNHCR Representative in Liberia, Mr. Cosmas Chanda, has described the response in Maryland County as “the Maryland model”.

With security along Liberia’s border a major concern in the West Africa sub-region, the Government of Liberia has issued a new policy encouraging refugees to move into camps or designated areas. “The ongoing movement into camps in the various counties is perfectly in line with the new policy. We currently have more than 21,000 Ivorian refugees in camps, but our task now is to move at least 60,000 refugees to the various camps by 31 December 2011 ,” said Mr. Chanda.

Since last November, more than 153, 995 Ivorians are estimated to have crossed over into Liberia. So far five refugee camps have been established at Bahn in Nimba County; Little Wlebo in Maryland County, and Solo, Dougee and Ziah in Grand Gedeh County, all of which are being expanded in order to accommodate more refugees willing to relocate into camps.

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