- Title: VARIOUS: WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES REFUSE ENTRY TO LIBERIAN REFUGEES
- Date: 10th May 1996
- Summary: AT SEA, OFF SIERRA LEONE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, PARIS, FRANCE AND MONROVIA, LIBERIA (MAY 10, 12, 13, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) AT SEA, OFF SIERRA LEONE (MAY 12, 1996) (RTV - AVAILABLE ALL) 1. LV SHIP AT SEA 0.05 2. LV SHIP WITH REFUGEES ON DECK (3 SHOTS) 0.39 3. LV REFUGEES UNDER TARPAULINS ON DECK 0.49 4. PAN ALON
- Embargoed: 25th May 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AT SEA, OFF SIERRA LEONE/ LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM/ PARIS, FRANCE/ MONROVIA, LIBERIA
- City:
- Country: EUROPE Liberia AFRICA AT SEA England United Kingdom Sierra Leone France
- Reuters ID: LVAAJMQBFY0GV1IXGG5STVXF3E4J
- Story Text: INTRO: Liberians fleeing ethnic violence at home have been refused entry into neighbouring West African states. The refugees, who have been sailing in cramped conditions for up to a week now, are sick and hungry and the European Commission has called on aid organisations to step up efforts to find them a safe haven.
Thousands of Liberian refugees on Sunday (May 12) languished off the shores of Sierra Leone on board a fishing boat after being ordered out of Freetown harbour.
The Victory Reefer sailed into Freetown on Saturday but authorities said it had no clearance to dock and the famished and thirsty Liberians had to retreat to a position several miles offshore.
The refugees are fleeing ethnic militia fighting in Liberia which flared on April 6 in a renewal of a six-year civil war.
Thousands more Liberians in the capital Monrovia were trying to escape but no country in West Africa will have them.
The European Commission said on Monday it would provide emergency aid to the refugees and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to step up efforts to work with governments to find a refuge in the region.
A spokesman for the UNHCR Ray Wilkinson said in London he understands the pressure West African nations are under, but added that many of the refugees were national of those countries which are refusing them entry.
"The problem will not go away until the governments help," he said.
The Bulk Challenge, a freighter crammed with three and a half thousand refugees, was also forced to resume its search for a friendly port after a refuelling stop in Ghana. The passengers, forced to wander the coast of West Africa for a week, with little food and water, were fed and given medical attention before being put to sea again.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) programme director Guillaume Le Gallais said in Paris the Bulk Challenge had returned on Monday to Ghana's port of Takoradi but there was no news on whether any passengers would be allowed to leave it.
Le Gallais said the freighter normally carried around ten crew members and there were no toilet or water facilities to service the thousands aboard.
MSF has identified several cases of diarrhoea and sunstroke aboard the boat and some cases of vomiting. One woman died on the vessel on Saturday.
Le Gallais appealed to West African countries to allow the boat to dock and provide temporary refuge for the passengers.
Ivory Coast also turned away the ship because, officials there said, they feared there may be Liberian guerrillas on board.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None