PROG IAL RAM EC M SP E LIBERIAN REPATRIATION AND REINTEGRATION OPERATION AT A GLANCE Impact • The voluntary repatriation programme met with lim- ited success: only 37,700 refugees were helped to return by UNHCR (an additional 19,000 returned sponta- neously). UNHCR provided transport assistance and repatriation packages to the returnees and WFP supplied Main Objectives and Activities food rations for two months. Repatriate 190,000 Liberians, including an estimated 90,000 • More than 50 quick impact projects (QIPs) were imple- spontaneous refugees, and support their reintegration in mented in health, education, water and income- Liberia; scale down activities in countries of asylum and generation in five priority counties (Nimba, Bong, transfer some responsibilities to host governments; consoli- Maryland, Grand Gedeh and Lofa), increasing the date reintegration by concentrating on activities leading to capacity of these areas to accommodate more returnees. greater self-sufficiency; continue to monitor protection in • A micro-credit scheme, including vocational training, returnee areas; and devise an exit strategy to allow for a was initiated to stimulate economic development in areas smooth transfer of activities from UNHCR to other suitable of return in Liberia. This allowed returnees to earn an organisations. income that covered the basic needs of their families. Refugees in asylum countries had access to small busi- ness loans to reduce their dependency on humanitar- Persons of Concern ian assistance. • UNHCR’s assistance to Liberian refugees in the coun- COUNTRY OF ASYLUM/ TOTAL IN OF WHICH: PER CENT PER CENT tries of asylum ensured that their basic humanitarian TYPE OF POPULATION COUNTRY UNHCR-ASSISTED FEMALE < 18 needs were met. But initial plans to hand over activities Guinea (Refugees) 129,100 129,100 53 59 Côte d’Ivoire (Refugees)* 135,600 135,600 52 49 to host governments had to be postponed until 2000. Sierra Leone (Refugees) 6,600 6,600 - - Nigeria (Refugees) 1,600 410 52 13 Ghana (Refugees) 10,400 10,400 48 45 Liberia (Returned in 1999)** 56,600 37,700 - - Income and Expenditure (USD) WORKING INCOME FROM OTHER FUNDS TOTAL FUNDS TOTAL EXP. * This includes 50,000 urban refugees who were not registered during the last census, according to government sources. BUDGET* CONTRIBUTIONS AVAILABLE** AVAILABLE * / *** / **** ** A total of 343,000 Liberians have repatriated (of whom 128,200 with UNHCR’s 24,487,299 17,022,926 5,561,856 22,584,782 21,016,605 assistance) since the beginning of the operation in May 1997. * Includes costs at Headquarters. ** Includes opening balance and adjustments. *** Expenditure related to Liberian refugees in asylum countries is also reported under General Programmes in the Regional Overview for West and Central Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone). **** Does not include USD 1.35 million allocated from the Voluntary Repatriation Fund. UNHCR GLOBAL REPORT 1999 Page 111 SPECIAL PROGRAMME WORKING ENVIRONMENT lack of spare parts. Competing needs for transport of refugees and relief materials over long distances on poor The Context roads hampered the operation. Incursions across the At the height of the war that erupted in Liberia in border between Liberia and Guinea put a stop to organ- December 1989, 700,000 people fled the country (out ised returns after August, when the border between the of an estimated pre-war population of 2.4 million). In two countries was officially closed. Two major cross- addition, an unknown number of Liberians were ing points between Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia were uprooted and displaced within Liberia. The end of the also non-operational for most of the year for lack of a civil war, followed by the demobilisation and disarma- river ferry in Tabou and due to bad roads in Grand ment of ex-combatants and then the subsequent estab- Gedeh County. lishment in August 1997 of an elected government, made it possible to begin repatriating and reintegrat- Funding ing refugees. About 343,000 Liberians have returned Liberia is a nation emerging from almost a decade of home from exile thus far, 128,200 with UNHCR’s assis- civil conflict, and is struggling to stimulate interna- tance. To facilitate their reintegration, UNHCR has to tional interest in reconstruction and development. date completed 114 community-based QIPs in the Although considerable optimism accompanied the largest returnee communities but they have not been transition to democracy in mid-1997, only a small frac- sustained by longer-term national development pro- tion of the many commitments to support recon- grammes. This bodes ill for long-term stability. struction actually materialised as recurrent security and human rights violations left many donors wary of Lofa County (the largest returnee area in Liberia) wit- investing in Liberia. Unfortunately, an estimated nessed serious security incidents twice in 1999, allegedly shortfall of USD 5 million by mid-year led to a reduc- instigated by national security forces and dissidents tion in activities, and the situation only improved mar- based in neighbouring Guinea. Eighty-five aid work- ginally towards the end of the year, resulting in fur- ers were temporarily taken hostage in August and ther cut-backs. Additional funds (USD 1.35 million) property (including more than 20 vehicles) belonging were allocated from the Voluntary Repatriation Fund to UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies, with a to avoid a disruption of activities. total estimated value of USD 120 million, was destroyed or stolen. Humanitarian assistance in Lofa ceased, increasing the reluctance of many refugees to abandon ACHIEVEMENTS AND IMPACT the relative safety of life in the countries of asylum. The security incidents also triggered an influx of some Protection and Solutions 9,000 Liberian refugees into Guinea. By and large, Liberians have been accepted as prima facie refugees in the various countries of asylum: gov- Constraints ernments and local populations have generally been The road to recovery has been uneven and reconcili- hospitable. Many of those who fled to Côte d’Ivoire and ation remained elusive in many parts of the country. Guinea have been able to settle, albeit temporarily, Many rural areas still lack local administrations and law among the local population. In Sierra Leone, Ghana enforcement. The stagnant economy is weighed down and Nigeria the refugees have been residing in camps. by debt (estimated at USD 3.1 billion) and unem- In Côte d’Ivoire, the Comité national de Coordination ployment. The rural economy is cut off from markets de l’Aide aux Réfugiés libériens (CNARL) continued to in the capital Monrovia because of poor infrastructure be very supportive (even after the coup d’état in and lack of transport. The political situation permits December), but a national law on refugees has yet to no hope of significant economic recovery for the fore- be enacted. Additional support and training on refugee seeable future. In terms of social infrastructure, matters will also be required for new government staff. UNHCR works in a vacuum. Health, education and A security incident involving a refugee leader who had most other public sector community services are to be resettled after his shelter was burned led other unavailable in many areas. refugees to fear for their safety. Liberian refugees resid- ing in Waterloo camp in Sierra Leone were forced to There were several logistical problems in Liberia and flee in early 1999 to the eastern part of Freetown, the countries of asylum. Trucking capacity was not along with the local population, as rebels advanced on only limited, but vehicles were difficult to maintain for the city. Owing to security concerns, protection of UNHCR GLOBAL REPORT 1999 Page 112 SPECIAL PROGRAMME this group could only resume in the latter part of the sheeting to reinforce their dwellings. Subsistence year. In Guinea, the safety of Liberian refugees was allowances were provided to returnees required to stay threatened, and their freedom of movement restricted, overnight in Monrovia. when the authorities began arresting suspected rebels. Staffing constraints prevented UNHCR from fully Education: It was not possible to hand over educational addressing the complex needs of the many refugees in support for Liberian refugees to host governments as Guinea - an area of operations comprising more than planned. In Guinea, more than 24,000 refugee children 100 sites. were enrolled in schools run by UNHCR’s imple- menting partner, most of them at the primary level. In Activities and Assistance Côte d’Ivoire, 17,000 school children were enrolled in Community Services: In Côte d’Ivoire, 30 day care cen- French classes in preparation for their transfer to the tres were opened for 2,012 refugee children. About 250 Ivorian educational system; all vocational training adults attended French courses. In Nigeria, 50 refugee centres were closed in June. In Ghana, most refugee women participated in cooking, tie-and-dye fabric children attended school. Some 1,950 primary and design and sewing classes. In Liberia, skills-training and 370 secondary school pupils in Krisan and Buduburam adult literacy programmes were organised for women camps were given 500 boxes of chalk, 980 textbooks and adolescents in five centres with day nurseries for and 7,700 exercise books. In Nigeria, 200 refugee chil- the under-fives. This improved skills among returnees dren received school supplies. In Liberia, 14 primary in agriculture, palm oil production, home economics, schools were rehabilitated in four counties to accom- tailoring, tie-and-dye, soap-making and hairdressing. modate 62,000 returnee children. Two teachers’ train- Three workshops were conducted on the rights of the ing institutes were partly rehabilitated and some 500 child, nutrition and birth control. In Sierra Leone, 30 teachers were trained. Educational supplies and sup- refugees formed co-operatives in order to obtain loans port were provided for 184 local schools. The Liberian for micro-credits.