Rescued refugees return
2004-05-27 19:37
Monrovia, Liberia - Hundreds of Liberian refugees were returning home Thursday in a UN airlift after being rescued last by French troops when their boat broke down off the West African coast, a UN spokesperson said.
The approximately 300 refugees began arriving in the capital, Monrovia, on Wednesday from neighbouring Ivory Coast, said Moses Okello, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in Liberia.
"By the end of the day (Thursday) we expect that all of them will be home," Okello said.
The refugees fled Liberia during the country's 14 years of civil war and had each paid about US$150 to travel home from ports in Nigeria and Ghana.
Motors on the Nigerian-registered Dona Elvira broke down on May 18, leaving them drifting 250km offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
They were rescued the following day by a French military vessel, which tugged them two days later to Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital.
About 170 refugees returned on two UN-chartered flights on Wednesday, many carrying bundles of personal belongings on their heads. The rest were due on Thursday, Okello said.
There are around 350 000 Liberian refugees living in West Africa, according to the UNHCR, which is planning to start a regional repatriation programme in October.
- AP