ABIDJAN, 4 October (IRIN) - Refugees
who had been camped in Guinea fled back to Sierra Leone during a cross-border
attack by armed men from their own country at the weekend and are being
identified by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Freetown.
The number of refugees who turned up
in Lungi, Sierra Leone, has not yet been determined, Fatoumata Kaba, a
UNHCR spokeswoman in Conakry, told IRIN on Wednesday. The refugees could
be among at least 4,000 who fled the Farmoriah refugee camp when it was
attacked early Saturday. UNHCR has relocated 1,785 refugees from Farmoriah
to the Kaliah camps nearby, she said.
Panic broke out in Farmoriah when armed men from Sierra Leone attacked. A number of people were killed as they tried to flee across the Melikore River.
"While trying to cross the bridge some refugees and Guineans drowned," Kaba said.
Nearly 500,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia are camped in Guinea and there has been growing resentment against them. Cross-border attacks from their home countries have left at least 200 people dead in the past month.
The government of President Lansana Conte has accused the refugees of causing crime, arms and drug smuggling, as well as AIDS in Guinea.
"UNHCR fears these public declarations could trigger further anti-refugee sentiment among the local population and the military," the refugee agency said on Tuesday.
[ENDS]
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