West Africa 2004 - Tracing the steps of returnees from Sierra Leone to Liberia

During the past decade of war in Liberia, an estimated 250,000 people have fled for safety to bordering countries. With the expulsion of Charles Taylor and the arrival of a UN peacekeeping mission - UNMIL - last August, the situation in Liberia is beginning to stabilize. Liberia’s Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) program is scheduled to begin on April 15, and refugees who have been living in camps in Sierra Leone - some for more than 10 years - are optimistic about peace and the possibility of returning to their homes and livelihoods.

Liberia 2004 - Perrytown with Wilson camp in background 04/05/2004 This picture shows a temporary IDP camp in an area of Liberia called Perrytown. Once the Liberian refugees make it back to Liberia, they usually head straight to Monrovia and to the overcrowded IDP camps that ring the city. UNHCR is providing sticks and sheeting for people to build their own shelters as well as delivering food and water. Most refugees will remain in these temporary camps until combatants are disarmed and demobilized.

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