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    October 25, 2011

UN Starts Voluntary Repatriation of Ivory Coast Refugees

   Scott Stearns | Dakar, Senegal
   Children sit outside their family's tent as a neighbor bathes her son
   in a camp housing more than 2,600 Ivorian refugees, with more arriving
   daily, in Solo Town, near Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)
   Photo: AP
   Children sit outside their family's tent as a neighbor bathes her son
   in a camp housing more than 2,600 Ivorian refugees, with more arriving
   daily, in Solo Town, near Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)

   The United Nations has begun the first voluntary repatriation of Ivory
   Coast refugees from neighboring Liberia. Hundreds of thousands of
   Ivorians had crossed the border to flee their country's violent
   post-election crisis. The refugees are starting to stream home now that
   security conditions are improving in western Ivory Coast.
   The numbers are small, but their direction is encouraging. Forty-five
   families are the first to voluntarily leave Liberia and return to Ivory
   Coast through the U.N. refugee agency.
   They are at a transit center in the Ivorian town of Toulepleu after
   leaving Liberia's Solo refugee camp. It is one of six camps established
   over the last eight months to house refugees from the political crisis
   between Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and his predecessor,
   Laurent Gbagbo.
   Agreement forged
   The U.N. refugee agency's Sulaiman Momolu said the voluntary
   repatriation follows an agreement between the United Nations and the
   governments of Liberia and Ivory Coast.
   'UNHCR is not promoting returns. That is we are not going out to the
   camps and say, 'Oh, it's time to go back home.' We are far from that
   yet. What we are doing is to facilitate in line with that tripartite
   agreement that was signed," said Momolu. "You want to go, you register
   with our colleagues in the field. You write down your name. You go
   through the processes, and then you go.'
   Momolu said camp officials check with their colleagues in Ivory Coast
   to make sure that it is safe in the areas where these refugees are
   returning.

   Ivorian refugees walk at a camp housing more than 2,600 people
   displaced by fighting in Western Ivory Coast, in Solo Town, near
   Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)

AP

   Ivorian refugees walk at a camp housing more than 2,600 people
   displaced by fighting in Western Ivory Coast, in Solo Town, near
   Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)

   'The main areas of return are Blolekin, Toulepleu, Duekoue, and Guiglo.
   So as long as we have people who are returning, who are expressing
   their desire to return, we will cross-check those areas where they want
   to return,' said Momolu.
   Challenges remain
   While these are the first official refugee returns through the U.N.,
   Ivorian refugees have been returning on their own since April when
   fighters backing President Ouattara captured Gbagbo, who had refused to
   give up power after losing last year's election.
   Refugee camps farther north along the border are winding down as mostly
   pro-Ouattara civilians return home. The problem is farther south, where
   most of the refugees are Gbagbo supporters, many of whom say they are
   afraid to return because the Ouattara fighters who chased them from
   their homes are now part of the new national army.

   An Ivorian girl walks among tents in a camp housing Ivorian refugees in
   Solo Town, near Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)

AP

   An Ivorian girl walks among tents in a camp housing Ivorian refugees in
   Solo Town, near Zwedrou, Liberia, May 2011. (file photo)

   Momolu said some of the refugees are returning for the start of the
   school year, others in preparation for next month's legislative vote.
   'Some are saying, 'Well, we have to go because we can't get jobs here.
   We were working before and we want to go back and get our jobs.' Others
   say, 'Well, parliamentary elections are coming up. Our people out there
   who want to contest are encouraging us to go back and vote,'' said
   Momolu.
   Relief workers in Ivory Coast say one of the biggest challenges facing
   returning refugees is a shortage of housing.