PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

There were some signs of improvement in Sierra Leone, but the humanitarian situation in neighbouring Guinea and Liberia was deteriorating, the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today.

Describing her recent trip to those three West African countries, she said that the purpose of the mission had been to understand regional implications of the growing crisis in Guinea and Liberia; to look at the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone; and to respond to a recent Security Council resolution on the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), requesting a report on the internally displaced persons and refugees in the region.  Representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations participated in the mission.  An ambassador for humanitarian affairs from the Swedish Government accompanied the mission.

In a nutshell, the assessment of the mission was that the complex situation in Sierra Leone was showing some signs of improvement, she continued.  With the apparent weakening of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and with considerably increased presence of UNAMSIL, there was a sense that a solution was on the way.  Sierra Leone, however, was a very poor country and the ultimate success there would depend on the availability of development funding, once stability had been achieved in most of the country.  There was concern about the availability of humanitarian funds, for "no matter how much one raises for humanitarian efforts, there is never enough".

In the meantime, the humanitarian crisis in Liberia and Guinea was growing.  In Guinea, the concern over the past few years had been how to help the Government support hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sierra Leone.  Now the country also had 300,000 internally displaced persons of its own, because of the fighting along the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone.  In Liberia, the situation was also deteriorating rapidly.  Rebel factions in Lofa County, in the north, seemed to have joined forces against the authorities.  As a result, the old territorial forces, which had been demobilized and disarmed in 1997 and 1998, were being called upon to serve again by President Taylor. 

She went on to say that such a situation could lead to a humanitarian crisis.  Potentially, there could be 60,000 internally displaced persons in Liberia alone.  In addition to 500,000 refugees, the number of internally displaced persons in the region could reach 750,000.  A report to the Security Council would be ready in a few days, and it would be made available to the press. 

Last November, the humanitarian community had asked for $78 million for Sierra Leone.  Three weeks ago, another appeal for funds had been launched. Donors were being asked for $65 million to cover the needs of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, focusing both on internally displaced people and refugees.

Asked for details regarding the situation in Sierra Leone, Ms. McAskie said that today was an anniversary of unfortunate events -- when the RUF attacked the United Nations positions and the peacekeepers were unable to hold the line. 

That would not happen again.  The strengthening of UNAMSIL was very evident on the ground.  The Mission was advancing gradually and firmly without engaging the RUF in battle.  When the next contingent arrived, the Mission would be able to go further North. 

She added that there was a different tone to the RUF's statements lately.  The Front's protestations that it had no interest in war appeared to be ringing a little truer.  Considering the past bad experiences with the RUF, however, “we need evidence of good faith before we accept their assurances”.  The Front had invited military observers from UNAMSIL to visit their strongholds in the north east of the country, and that was seen as an encouraging sign.  However, it was still true that the Front was engaged in cross-border activities with Guinea. There were also reports of continued RUF abductions of child soldiers, who must be released.  There were also incidents of rape and sexual torture. 

The United Nations had sent a very strong message to the Front that humanitarian access was needed to evaluate the situation in the North.  The RUF had advised OCHA that there were about 50,000 returned refugees from Guinea in its territory now.  It was impossible to verify that figure, but she believed that there were, indeed, tens of thousands of returned refugees there.

Responding to a question about the treatment of returning refugees, she said that large numbers of refugees who had been trapped in the south-west of Guinea, were now being moved to safer areas away from the border.  Many were also coming back.  The Government of Guinea was discouraging the refugees from returning to Conakry, however, for the capacity there was seriously strained.  The returnees were mostly women and children.  Men were not returning for fear of reprisals. 

When asked, the refugees said that they had not actually been abused by the RUF, she continued, but they had been held for registration.  In some cases, their possessions had been taken.  Human Rights Watch was documenting cases of child abductions from refugee camps, but so far there was no independent corroboration of those statements.  The RUF had been told that it must provide free passage for the refugees.  Because of the dangers, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the humanitarian community did not yet support the organized return of the refugees.  Also, the capacity of Sierra Leone to handle them was at a breaking point, with camps and transit centres overflowing.   

To a question on the outcome of the pledging appeals, Ms. McAskie said that about $20 million had been pledged for Sierra Leone.  That was not bad, but much more was needed.  On the regional appeal, so far only $2 million had been collected.  However, there were indications that more money would be coming. 

Some Governments made their pledges almost immediately, while others needed to wait until the next financial year, she added.  As April was the beginning of a financial year for some governments, she hoped that there would be an increase in the pledges.  Also, the sad fact about humanitarian appeals lately was that the problems had become chronic.  As a result, some donors had budget allocations for certain countries.  Thus, money on the 2001 appeal could not be expected to come until January or February of 2002.

Asked for a list of major donors, she said that she did not have such a list.  The United States and the United Kingdom were very active, and other countries, including Sweden, Norway and Canada, made regular contributions to that part of the world.  She did not want to present a list today, however, because she was afraid to leave somebody out. 

She added that the OCHA Web site –- Relief Web -– contained a lot of useful information in that respect.  The site was updated daily, and it presented data on the humanitarian crises around the world and on the donations provided to address them.  Correspondents could also find information by country, as well as official maps of the area.

To a question about freedom of access, she said that access in Liberia and Sierra Leone was extremely difficult.  The only country where the delegation had had almost complete access was Guinea.  Even there, getting to some areas was difficult for security reasons.  In many areas, fighting was continuing.  As there had been cases of abductions and killings of humanitarian workers, humanitarian agencies were very careful about putting their people at risk.

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