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Ivorian humanitarian crisis not over yet – aid groups

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:11 GMT

Source: alertnet // George Fominyen

Women stand in line to receive aid and rations from Oxfam in Nedrou village near Guiglo, west of Ivory Coast September 6, 2011. The West African state is trying to recover from a four-month post-poll conflict over last November's presidential elections that killed thousands and paralysed the economy. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

By George Fominyen

DAKAR (AlertNet) - Despite improved security in Ivory Coast, humanitarian needs remain serious with hundreds of thousands of people still uprooted, many of them too frightened to go home following post-election violence and inter-communal killings.

Fighting between forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara and predecessor Laurent Gbagbo killed at least 3,000 people and displaced a million before Gbagbo was ousted in April, ending a vicious power struggle sparked by a disputed presidential election last November.

The United Nations estimates that there are still 300,000 people living in camps or with host communities within Ivory Coast, especially in the west where some of the worst post-election bloodshed took place.

"It is less dramatic than it was a few months ago but there is absolutely no doubt that the humanitarian needs are very serious," said Stephen Cockburn, the West Africa regional campaign and policy manager for U.K.-based charity Oxfam.

Guy Cave, the head of the charity, Save the Children, in Ivory Coast, said those living in camps continue to face crowded conditions, with insufficient access to clean water, sanitation facilities or healthcare.

Although the security outlook is stable in the west of Ivory Coast, the extent of the inter-communal violence in the region, a tinderbox of ethnic and land tensions, means that normal life still has not resumed, aid workers and rights groups say.

"Those are areas where there are still fears and there is still the need for civil authorities to come back and retake control," Oxfam's Cockburn told AlertNet in Dakar.

Workers at several health centres in the west have kept away prompting some aid groups to redeploy their medical staff from towns such as Abidjan, the commercial capital, where doctors and nurses have gone back to work.

Many aid groups are focusing activities on ensuring that there are functioning healthcare services schools, water supplies and other basics in villages where mainly internally displaced Ivorians have returned. Many homes had been burnt and health centres and schools looted during the conflict.

REFUGEES   

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that of the 173,000 Ivorians or so, who had crossed into Liberia seeking refuge, up to 70,000 have returned to western Ivory Coast.

The majority of the refugees were living with host communities with some 30,000 living in the UNHCR camps set up in Liberia.

"Refugees continue to be suspicious about the security in Ivory Coast," said Jean Jacques Inchi, field coordinator for medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in Liberia.

"Some send a part of the family to go to check and they let others in Liberia in order to continue to receive assistance and to be able to return if needed," he added.

U.N. agencies and international aid groups have asked Liberian and Ivorian authorities not forcefully repatriate the refugees. Some of the agencies have started livelihood projects for the refugees including the distribution of seeds for farming.

Liberia, Ivory Coast and UNHCR signed an agreement for the voluntary repatriation of Ivorian refugees last month. UNHCR says it is working out details for an organised voluntary repatriation. The date is yet to be determined.

"It is important that no one is forced to go home before they are safe and ready. And if they are ready to return, they are provided with the support that they need,” Oxfam's Cockburn said. 

(Editing by Katie Nguyen)