Any butcher who leads his people to such craziness is no Pan-Afrikanist. Gbagbo should not mock real Pan-Afrikanists by painting himself as one. The guy is a BOZO!!!
"Every day 600 refugees enter Liberia due to the violent political turmoil in Côte d'Ivoire. I am seriously concerned that their situation will worsen unless there is a stronger humanitarian response," said NRC Secretary General, Elisabeth Rasmusson, upon completing her field mission to Liberia.
So far, NRC has registered 24 000 refugees in the north western Nimba county. Some additional 5,000 refugees are lining up at the registration centres set up by NRC in collaboration with the Liberian Refugee, Return and Resettlement Commission and UNHCR.
Photo: NRC/Erik Giercksky
"The refugees need water, food, shelter and access to medical care. They are hosted by the local communities, who themselves are poor but have opened their homes and generously shared their food," Rasmusson said.
NRC, who has been providing humanitarian assistance and protection in Liberia since 2003, has deployed some 65 staff to 17 registration points across Nimba county and is beefing up its response capacity.
"We continue to register incoming refugees, but there are hardly any response or referral mechanisms to ensure that their needs are met. Local communities are running out of food and water and have simply not sufficient means to host the 50,000 or more refugees that we expect will be coming in over the next coming months", said NRC Country Director Astrid Sletten.
Photo: NRC/Erik Giercksky
The Government of Liberia has decided to establish refugee camps. One site large enough for some 18,000 refugees has been identified in Bahn and preparations are underway for a second camp.
NRC has a tripartite agreement for food distribution with UNHCR and WFP. As for the camps, NRC is responsible for Site Planning, Camp Management, Shelter and distribution of food and relief items. Furthermore, NRC will continue to do registration and Protection Monitoring as long as it is needed.
Through operational programmes, NRC continues to support the mandated lead agency UNCHR. So far, NRC has deployed one expert to UNCHR in Nimba through the Emergency Response roster NORCAP and more personnel are available upon request.
In Monrovia, the Secretary General was received by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in order to address the refugee situation. She also met with UN representatives including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, and the UNHCR Resident Representative, to discuss the situation on the ground and how the humanitarian response can be made more timely and effective.
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