Photo Credit: Refugees International/ Sally Chin
06/01/2005

Liberians who escaped violence during the 14 years of war have started to make the journey home after spending years living in camps like this one. During the war an estimated 500,000 Liberians fled the conflict to live in internal displacement camps, and another 350,000 crossed borders into Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. The exile of Charles Taylor in 2003 to Nigeria, the signing of the peace agreement, and the deployment to date of some 15,000 UN peacekeepers, one of the largest UN forces worldwide, have created an environment in which return is finally possible. As Liberia transitions towards peace, Refugees International is calling on the entire UN humanitarian and development system to step up efforts to ensure that communities are provided with the support they need to rebuild.