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Banging the drum for peace in West Africa
30 Sep 2004 UNHCR and Talking Drum Studio have been working on a multimedia information programme to inform displaced Liberians about their options for return. The regularly-updated information is presented in novel ways - through radio operas and interactive theatre. -
West African countries sign agreements on Liberian returns
27 Sep 2004 The Liberian government and UNHCR have signed agreements with the governments of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone to set the main legal and operational framework for the voluntary return of more than 340,000 Liberian refugees in the region, starting on October 1. -
African Union Ambassadors meet refugees in Sierra Leone
23 Sep 2004 A high-level African Union delegation has completed a West Africa mission, where they met Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire to see refugee situations first hand and determine what the AU can do to improve their lives as part of a new plan of action in Africa. -
First refugees sign up for return to Liberia
23 Sep 2004 On the first day of registration, more than 100 Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone's Gondama camp booked themselves seats on the first return convoy set to cross back into Liberia on October 1. -
UNHCR starts registering Liberian refugees for return from Sierra Leone
21 Sep 2004 The refugee agency has started registration in eastern Sierra Leone's Gondama and Tobanda camps after informing the refugees about their home conditions, repatriation and reintegration assistance, and other details. The facilitated repatriation will start in October. -
Liberian government declares four counties safe for return ahead of UNHCR repatriation
16 Sep 2004 Two weeks before the start of UNHCR's voluntary repatriation to Liberia, the government has declared Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount and Margibi counties safe for return. Meanwhile, the agency and its partners continue rehabilitation projects that will help the returnees settle back home. -
Guinea sees end of one return programme, start of another
30 Aug 2004 Now that UNHCR has ended return convoys to Sierra Leone, the agency and the Guinean government are helping the remaining Sierra Leonean refugees to integrate locally. At the same time, UNHCR has started a campaign to inform Liberian refugees in Guinea about their options for return, starting in October. -
Liberian refugees take first steps towards new life in US
26 Aug 2004 Sixteen Liberian refugees have left years of exile in Sierra Leone to start afresh in the United States under a resettlement programme that started in June. They know that life will not be easy in the beginning, but are eager for the chance to live in peace. -
Liberian returnees find out it takes more than resilience to remain home
25 Aug 2004 Liberians impatient to return home after 14 years of civil war are finding out that it takes more than resilience to begin a new life in their villages in the face of so much destruction, lack of income-earning opportunities and insecurity in some places.