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Lubbers lauds efforts to make Liberia safe for refugee returns
4 May 2004 UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers has said that the rapid deployment of UN troops and disarmament efforts in Liberia will help ensure enough security for UNHCR to start facilitating refugee returns in October. -
UNHCR reopens offices in Liberia
26 Apr 2004 The UN refugee agency is resuming full operations in Liberia, sending 46 staff members to previously-inaccessible areas to lay the groundwork for organised repatriation later this year. UNHCR has also completed the airlift of Liberian refugees stranded in Mali. -
Stranded Liberian refugees finally set for home
23 Apr 2004 After spending weeks at the Malian border, 229 Liberian refugees will now be airlifted back to Monrovia, ending years of exile and a long journey home through Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali. -
Funding shortage hampers assistance for Liberian and Sudanese refugees
16 Apr 2004 UN refugee agency appeals for funds for its cash-strapped programmes to help Liberian and Sudanese refugees, one month after an Africa Dialogue raised hopes of donor support for the anticipated return of millions of refugees in the continent. The appeal comes amid the resumption of demobilization in Liberia and the return of thousands of uprooted Liberians as peace takes hold. -
Returning teachers aim to put Liberia back on learning curve
26 Mar 2004 A first group of internally displaced teachers have returned to Zwedru in eastern Liberia in an attempt to resume basic services like education in areas of return. Meanwhile, the stream of spontaneous returnees continues. -
Feature: Liberian boy fights kidney disease after surviving war
15 Mar 2004 Dickson Gray has survived a rocket attack and a life in captivity in Liberia. Now in Sierra Leone, the 17-year-old refugee is fighting for his life and needs to be resettled urgently to a country with advanced medical care. -
Peace prospects pulling West Africa's refugees home
12 Mar 2004 Refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone have been streaming home, on UNHCR convoys and on their own, through a now-secured border between the two countries - one firmly on the road to reconstruction, the other at the doorstep of a peaceful future. -
UNHCR resumes land returns to Sierra Leone after two-year break
2 Mar 2004 More Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia are expected to sign up for repatriation as overland convoys resume. UNHCR hopes that the remaining 13,000 refugees will opt to go back to Sierra Leone ahead of the June cut-off date for repatriation and assistance. -
Thousands of Liberians returning home on their own
26 Feb 2004 Returning from Sierra Leone, many of them face continued displacement at home as their areas of origin remain unsafe for return. UNHCR is stepping up efforts to help these spontaneous returnees with transport, shelter and relief items.