OCHA Situation Report No. 2
Guinea Humanitarian
March - April 2003
28 April 2003


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

I HUMANITARIAN HIGHLIGHTS

The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) prepared and submitted the Guinea
contribution to the sub-regional emergency CAP for countries affected by
the Cote d'Ivoire crisis. Together, UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO, FAO, OCHA, UNDP
and IOM submitted a consolidated appeal of US$ 10,256,300 to cover the
costs of additional assistance required in responding to the Cote d'Ivoire
crisis. In addition to Guinea, the sub-regional CAP will include appeals
from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire when it is
launched by mid-April.

The Government of Guinea announced its decision to reconfigure its
refugee- and asylum policy by consolidating all refugees in two
refugee-zones in Laine and Albaderia, where all future refugee camps will
be located. Accordingly, refugee camps in other regions of the country
will be closed as their residents are either repatriated or relocated to
camps in these two zones. This decision also includes an agreement on the
enlargement of the Laine camp to enhance its current capacity of 6,000
persons to 15-16,000 refugees, as well as the establishment of three
official reception centres in the villages of Bossou, N'Zoo and Nonah, all
within the Forest region.

Heavy fighting between the Government Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and
the rebel movement Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(LURD) in the border town of Ganta at the Guinea - Liberia border, caused
a massive influx of mainly Liberian refugees into Guinea around the Diecke
- Ganta border point. Some 5,082 persons, including 4,963 Liberian and 40
Ivorian refugees were registered by authorities and assisted by the UN and
partners in the Baala reception centre, located adjacent to the border
crossing. As the UNHCR transferred all refugees to the Laine refugee-camp,
the UN estimated that more refugees could continue to be hiding in the
bushes around the border point, an area of which has been declared a
"no-go zone" by the Guinean military following speculations that the AFL
is planning to stage an attack into Guinean territory. All civilians have
been requested to evacuate the subject area.

Resumption of fighting between loyalist forces and rebels around Danane,
Cote d'Ivoire on April 8-9 sparked a new wave of people entering Guinea at
the N'Zoo/Guela border point in the Forest region in an attempt to escape
the fighting. Between April 9 - 16, 2,160 arrivals were registered in the
Guiela reception centre at the border, including 1,573 Guinean evacuees,
534 Ivorian refugees, 70 Liberian refugees and 27 Malians. Lower numbers
continued to arrive later in the week.

The WFP has announced the need for reducing food rations to refugees in
Guinea if donations expected for 2003 fail. Accordingly, in country stocks
plus confirmed shipments are only sufficient to cover requirements until
August. The WFP is approximately 60% funded as of current requirements,
but will cut cereals by 50% in June due to a delay in shipment.


II POLITICAL AND SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS

1 National

1.a Political

Relations between Guinea and Liberia remain at a long-time low as the
Liberian Government, on the eve of Guinea assuming the Presidency of the
UN Security Council on March 1, submitted to the council an official
letter accusing Guinea of violating the UN Charter by directly assisting
the LURD rebel group in its struggle to topple the Taylor Government.
Relations exacerbated when shots were fired, allegedly by AFL soldiers,
into Guinean territory on 30 March when a UN mission attempted to assist
refugees fleeing heavy fighting between LURD and AFL forces. Commenting on
this incident, the Liberian Government reiterated its position on Guinean
involvement in its internal conflict. Consequently, the Guinean military,
in anticipations of further tension, has declared the area around Diecke a
"no-go zone", hermetically closed the border crossing and ordered all
civilians to evacuate the area until further notice. Moreover, the Guinean
authorities have replaced the civilian Prefect of the Lola Prefecture,
which shares the sensitive borders with both Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire,
with a high-ranking military official.

The President of Sierra Leone, Mr. Tejan Kabbah, paid a brief working
visit to Guinea meeting with General President Lansana Conte and the Prime
Minister Lamine Sidimé. The visit was part of the sub-regional efforts to
reach peace and stability in the region by having periodical meetings
between the Heads of State of the Mano River Union countries.

Drastic decreases in supply of water and electricity to several parts of
Conakry, aggravated by increased fuel prices, caused days of widespread,
spontaneous demonstrations and some violent clashes between civilians and
security forces. Although demonstrations have ceased, the enduring lack of
these basic commodities creates a tense atmosphere in certain
neighborhoods as living standards are severely affected by the situation.
The Government has not given clear indications as to how it expects to
alleviate the situation.

Opposition parties have complained that the Government party, Parti de
l'Unité et du Progrès (PUP) has commenced its electoral campaign in a bid
to secure the re-election of General President Lansana Conte in the
Presidential elections scheduled for December this year. The Electoral law
stipulates that electoral campaigning is banned until 21 days prior to
polling day. Consequently, several other parties have commenced
'sensitizing' voters in preparation of the event. There has been no
official announcement from the National Electoral Commission in response
to the allegations.

1.b Security updates

Conakry: The general security situation is calm for the moment.

Forest region: The security situation around the Guinea - Liberia border
areas is extremely volatile with the Guinean military on maximum alert.
The Army has re-enforced its presence in the areas around the Diecke -
Ganta border crossing, declaring it a "no-go zone". Civilians have been
ordered to evacuate the area and refugees to be relocated immediately.
This situation affects the day-to-day implementation of UN operations in
the area, as security measures restrict movement in certain parts of the
border areas.

Several unofficial accounts reported the alleged presence of LURD
combatants in the Forestiere region, particularly in the Lola and Youmou
prefectures.

1.c Culture of Peace

Due to the intensification of hostilities in Liberia, the Mano River Union
Women's Network was unable to have its meeting of the executive board,
scheduled in Conakry for the of March, as the Liberian delegation was
prevention from attending. Instead, the organization will meet in Freetown
in the end of April.

2 Sub-regional

2.a Political

The apparent calm in the fighting in most parts of Cote d'Ivoire,
underscored by efforts at installing an interim Government composed of
representatives from both the civil administration and the Forces
Nouvelles [New Forces - MPCI, MPJ and MPIGO rebel groups], was welcomed by
the Guinean authorities at a meeting in the end of March between the
Ivorian Foreign Minister Mr. Mamadou Bamba and Guinean Prime Minister
Lamine Sidibe. Seeking General President Lansana Conte's advise on the
implementation of the Marcoussis accords, the Ivorian Foreign Minister
also expressed gratitude that Guinea has received some 4,000 Ivorian
refugees fleeing the Ivorian crisis. Notwithstanding this important
progress, reports of renewed fighting in Western Cote d'Ivoire continues
to cause concern.

However, renewed heavy fighting in Liberia between Government forces and
the LURD rebels is causing serious concern and is being followed closely
by the Guinean authorities and the UN. The Government, the UN and partners
are alerted to the possibility of further mass-movement of civilians
across the borders if the security situation in these areas continues to
deteriorate.

2.b Security updates

A new Liberian rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL),
consisting mainly of members from the Krahn ethnic group, emerged in the
Southeastern part of Liberia around Zwedru town, close to the border with
the so-called 'zone d'accueil' in Cote d'Ivoire that hosts large
refugee-camps with Liberian refugees from mainly the Krahn ethnic group.
According to the group's "Statement of Intent", appearing on the Internet
on 4 April, MODEL seeks to "rescue the Liberian people" from the incumbent
Taylor Government. Its objectives being similar to those of the LURD has
caused speculation that the groups may seek to join in their fight against
the Government.


III HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES

1 Influx from Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia

>From September 2002 to 14 April 2003, the Guinean authorities, the UNS and
the Croix Rouge Guineenne have registered some 98,479 persons arriving in
Guinea due to the crises in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. Of these, 58,436
were Guinean evacuees, 14,291 Liberian prima facie refugees, 11,780
Ivorian prima facie refugees, and 13,971 third country nationals (TCN) in
transit. These figures include the recent arrivals caused by intense
fighting in Ganta, Liberia on March 29 - 30 where 5,014 persons were
registered in the Baala reception centre near Diecke. Attacks by
Government forces on rebel positions around Danane, Cote d'Ivoire on 9
April sparked a renewed influx at the N'Zoo/Gouela entry point of some
1,589 persons in the days immediately following the attack.

The UN and NGO partners have provided emergency assistance in reception
centres at the main entry-points along the Guinea - Liberia and the Guinea
- Cote d'Ivoire borders, as well as at transit centres located further
inland. During the influx on the Ganta - Diecke border point, the Baala
reception centre underwent an emergency refurbishing to accommodate the
massive numbers of arrivals.

Most of the prima facie refugees arriving in Guinea have been transferred
by the UNHCR to camps in Laine (Liberian refugees) and Nonah (Ivorian
refugees) away from the volatile border areas. As per April 10, 3,592
Ivorian and 6,617 Liberian refugees had been transferred to facilities in
Nonah and Laine (this number does not include all the Liberian refugees
which have been transferred from Baala to Laine after arriving from
Ganta). It should be noted that the discrepancy between the number of
Ivorians registered at entry points and those transferred to the Nonah
camp is caused by the number of Ivorians either merely transiting via
Guinea to return to Abidjan from Conakry or residing with host-families
along the border. It is generally perceived that many Ivorians with means
to pay for transport have stayed only briefly in Guinea before returning
to Cote d'Ivoire via aircraft.

The UNHCR has transferred some 1,300 refugees in the Boussou reception
centre to the Laine and Nonah camps.

Having received some funding for its sub-regional operations, the IOM
dispatched a team to the N'Zerekore region to commence the repatriation of
some 68 Third Country Nationals (TCN) from Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin,
Nigeria, Niger and Ghana stranded in Diecke, Lola and Boussou. Included in
this group are 14 nationals of Benin stranded in Diecke since December
2002. The repatriation of this particular group is of outmost priority as
several women are reported to be in the late stages of pregnancy. MFS-CH
is assisting IOM in conducting travel medical screenings of all TCNs.

1.a Refugee-population in camps

New arrivals in UNHCR camps in the N'Zerekore and Albadaria regions as
of 18 April 2003

|------------+------------+-------------|
|            | N'ZEREKORE | KISSIDOUGOU |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| Kouankan   |       Kola |       Nonah |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| Periode    |        LBR |         SLE |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| Report     |     19,849 |          73 |
| Dec 02     |            |             |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| January 03 |          0 |           0 |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| February   |          0 |           0 |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| March      |          0 |           0 |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| April 18   |          0 |           0 |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| May        |            |             |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| S/Total    |     19,849 |          73 |
|------------+------------+-------------|
| TOTAL      |     41,172 |       6,227 |
|------------+------------+-------------|

Data provided by UNHCR Guinea
Total population per camp per 10 April 2003:



1.b Refugee Repatriation

The voluntary repatriation of Sierra Leonean refugees picked up speed with
the recent construction of a bridge across the Moa River, connecting
Dandou (Guinea) with Kailahun (Sierra Leone) in the Languette, decreasing
travel time from the Kissidougou refugee-camps to Kailahun from eight days
to 10 hours. With funding from the German Government, GTZ has constructed
the connection between the two countries, which was officially inaugurated
by representatives of the two Governments, the UNS and the Donors
community on 4 April.

Using the original repatriation route, which runs via Pamelap/Kambia, in
conjunction with this new connection, UNHCR repatriation capacity will be
boosted to about 14,000 persons per month, enough to reach its declared
goal of having the vast majority of the 34,700 Sierra Leonean refugees
currently in Guinea repatriated by the end of June 2003. Together, some
21,000 refugees will be repatriated via the Languette route during this
period, provided the rainy season does not force an early halt to
operations in this area. Having already repatriated some 4,300 refugees
via this route, the repatriation has experienced a brief setback at heavy
rains on the 20 April a part of the bridge to collapse. A team of GTZ
experts has announced that the repair work should be finalized by May 1.

In the week of 17 March, Some 169 Ivorian refugees were repatriated from
the Nonah transit camp via Conakry to Abidjan in an operation organized by
the Ivorian Government, following a visit of Ms. Clotilde Ohouochi, the
Ivorian Minister of Solidarity, Health and Social Security. The operation
was not encouraged by the UNHCR, which estimates that minimum conditions
are not met in the areas of origin of these refugees. Accordingly, the
UNHCR has announced that it is not currently planning to organize
repatriation operations of Ivorian refugees.

1.c Refugee care and maintenance

Laine refugee-camp:

The Government announced its decision to enlarge the Laine refugee camp in
order to accommodate more than 16,000 refugees. The camp, originally
constructed to house 6,000 persons, currently holds some 16,000 refugees
of mainly Liberian origin. Under the current conditions, the camp will be
unsuitable at the onset of the rainy season. The UNHCR is now negotiating
with local authorities and landowners to prepare for the enlargement,
while also prospecting for alternative sites in the area.

As part of its new refugee strategy, the Government will transfer all
Ivorian refugees currently residing in the Nonah transit centre to a camp
in the Albaderia region. This will in turn allow for the return of the
Nonah camp into one of three official reception centres, the other two
created being in N'Zoo/Guela and Bossou.


Kouankan-relocation:

The active relocation of some 33,000 Liberian refugees from the Kouankan
refugee-camp to camps in the Albaderia region has yet to commence. Despite
the recent announcement to Donors that the transfer would begin in the
second week of April, the first convoy has not left Kouankan to date. It
is now expected that the relocation will begin in early May and be
completed by the end of June 2003. An emergency team of UNHCR Protection
officers has arrived in Conakry to be deployed in Kouankan to assist in
facilitating the operation

In the meantime, the Government has appointed a Coordinator for the
relocation who was dispatched to the camp by the end of March. The
Government Coordinator is responsible among other things, for organizing
and implementing the sensitization campaign of refugees on the relocation
operation.

According to refugee-spoke persons of the Kouankan camp, a general
sentiment against the relocation remains among refugees. Further to this,
the UNCHR has received several threats against its staff and equipment
involved in the operation. However, it is not easily discernible whether
this attitude properly reflect the will of the majority of the refugees,
or if it is rather the sentiment of a smaller group within the camp. It
should be recalled that several international reports have identified this
camp as a rear base for LURD combatants due to its proximity to the Guinea
- Liberia border. In order to sensitize refugees on the main purpose of
the relocations, the Government and the UNS conducted a joint mission to
the Kouankan camp to meet directly with the refugees.

A recent joint Government - UNS mission to the camp received ambiguous
messages when discussing the issue of the relocation with refugees and
their representatives.

1.d Refugee Protection

UNHCR Guinea has dispatched a joint mission of UNHCR staff and Government
representatives to refugee-camps in Tanzania and Zambia to explore 'good
practices' on separating armed elements from refugees.

2 IDPs

2.a IDP Movements

An unspecified number of civilians have been ordered by the Guinean
military to evacuate the areas around the Diecke - Ganta border crossing
along the Guinea - Liberia border, now declared a 'no-go' zone. It is
unclear how long this situation will persist, but with allegations that
the LURD currently holds Ganta town, it has been speculated that the Armed
Forces of Liberia (AFL) will attempt to cross into Guinean territory to
launch a two-sided counter attack on the town.

With the security situation in many of the border regions of Liberia
continuing to deteriorate due to increased fighting between LURD and AFL
forces, it is predicted that more civilians could be ordered to evacuate
their villages in these areas for military/security purposes.


2.b IDP Assistance

NSTR

3 Host communities

Under the Inter-Agency emergency response plan prepared by the UN in
Guinea to face the implications of the Cote d'Ivoire crisis, multi-sector
interventions by several UN agencies have been proposed to alleviate the
already heavy burden placed upon host-communities mainly in the Forest
region. These interventions include emergency school feeding, food for
seeds protection programs, emergency supplies of seeds, immunization
campaigns, child mortality reduction programs, programs to prevent child
malnutrition and the promotion of culture-of-peace programs.

4 Health - HIV/AIDS

The Guinean health authorities have reinforced epidemiological screening
capacity at port facilities in Conakry in view of the SARS epidemic. On 11
April, Health Inspectors in Conakry International Airport turned back 17
Chinese nationals suspected of being infected with the disease.

WHO Guinea announced that a Sub-office in N'Zerekore is to be opened
shortly to assist its operations in this area. The agency has a Sub-office
in Kissidougou.


IV COORDINATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING

1 Strategic level

In separate meetings, the Humanitarian Coordinator has discussed a
proposed Humanitarian Coordination Strategy for Guinea to the
donors-community and the Government. This Strategy was developed in close
consultation with OCHA and UN Agencies.

The strategy includes the establishment of a National Humanitarian
Monitoring Committee, the core membership of which will consist of
Government representatives, UN Heads of Agencies, Donors, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and GTZ, as well as ad hoc
presence of technical Government bodies. This Committee will be co-chaired
by the Minister of the Interior and the Humanitarian Coordinator, while
OCHA and Senior Ministerial staff will assume the responsibility of
secretarial duties.

The Humanitarian Coordination Strategy is tentatively scheduled to be
officially launched at a ceremony on 24 April.

The OCHA Field office in N'Zerekore has continued its coordination efforts
with humanitarian partners and local Government authorities in the area.
This includes the coordinated emergency response to the sudden influx of
more than 5,000 refugees in the first week of April. This multifaceted
emergency operation involved the UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, MSF-S, Permiere
Urgence, ACF and the Guinean Red Cross, contributing to rehabilitating the
Baala reception centre and providing several forms of basic emergency
assistance.

The field-office participated in a mission with a representative of the
Canadian Development Agency, and in joint missions with the IOM, UNHCR and
other partners to areas of influx along the borders. Currently, the
field-office is providing office space and logistical assistance to a team
of IOM representatives dispatched to the region to assist third country
nationals for repatriation.

Over a three-week period, the OCHA Guinea Head of Office provided surge
assistance to the Mali UN Country Team on the preparation of its
contribution to the Emergency CAP for countries affected by the Cote
d'Ivoire crisis.

2 Sectoral level

The previously mentioned Humanitarian Coordination Strategy is envisaged
to reinforce the work of the existing sectoral groups through
recommendations emanating from the National Humanitarian Monitoring
Committee. The groups are Protection & Registration, Food security &
Environment, Health, Education, WATSAN and Rehabilitation & Reintegration,
each headed by a leading UN agency.

3 Capacity building

The lack of an OCHA National Field Officer for the Conakry office (the
former NFO has been deployed permanently to Cote d'Ivoire) impedes OCHA's
ability to provide in-depth capacity building and monitoring to the
Service National d'Action Humanitaire (SENAH). At the field level, OCHA
N'Zerekore continues to work closely with field section of SENAH, the
Bureau Regional d'Action Humanitaire (BRAH). Recruitment is underway to
replace the National Field Officer.

4 Information management

The Information Manager has been permanently transferred to the OCHA
Regional Support Office for West Africa in Abidjan. Recruitment has been
completed for this post and a new staff member will start on duty in the
last week of April.

5 Transition from relief to development

NSTR


V FUNDING UPDATE

According to the Financial Tracking System (FTS) 18 April 2003, the UN
Guinea CAP 2003 has received US$ 5,653,087 equivalent to 10,7% of the
total appeal of US$ 53, 413,983. The Mid-Year Review of the CAP 2003 is
underway and the United Nations in Guinea has decided to place a heavier
emphasis on the impacts of underfunding. The UN Country Team is
considering the need for preparing a CAP for Guinea 2004.

Some Agencies have already signaled that the first results of underfunding
will shortly begin to seriously affect the welfare of the beneficiaries.
This includes the WFP, which has announced the need for reducing
food-rations distributed to refugees by June unless donor-commitments are
secured immediately.

The UNS Guinea prepared is contribution to the sub-regional Emergency CAP
for the countries affected by the Cote d'Ivoire crisis. To this effect, UN
Agencies have estimated that US$ 10,256,300 is needed to finance the added
cost of various emergency interventions to Guinean returnees, refugees,
Third Country Nationals and host-populations in Guinea. The sub-regional
Emergency CAP presents similar appeals from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali,
Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire and is expected to be launched by the OCHA
Regional Support Office for West Africa in Abidjan by the end of April.


Financial Tracking

For further reporting, agencies and donors may use the financial tracking
system found on www.reliefweb.int. The latest Financial Tables can at any
time be viewed on-line at www.reliefweb.int/fts


VI OTHER ISSUES


VII RELATED DOCUMENTS AND LINKS

Maps

Maps of Guinea and humanitarian activities in the country are available
online at www.reliefweb.int.

Previous Humanitarian Situation Reports for Guinea

Previous Humanitarian Situation Reports for Guinea can be downloaded from
www.reliefweb.int, or ordered electronically from OCHA (please use below
contact information).

Early warning and conflict prevention

Havard University CPI:
http://www.preventconflict.org/portal/economics/portalhome.php

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/Africa.asp

Carnegie Publications on-line: http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/ccpdc/frpub.htm

West Africa Network for Peace-building: http://www.wanep.org

Please note that parts of the information above has been kindly provided
by the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN). In order to receive
daily Guinea updates via email, users may subscribe to IRIN on
www.reliefweb.int/IRIN

To be included on or taken off the distribution list for the monthly
Humanitarian Situation Reports for Guinea, or to contribute to next
month's report, kindly contact the OCHA Guinea Information Officer at
sofie.gardethomle@undp.org

With the exception of public UN sources, reproduction or redistribution of
the above text, in whole, part or in any form, requires the prior consent
of the original source.

Disclaimer: UN OCHA does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in
this documents. Inclusion of links to sites outside the United Nations
website www.un.org does not imply endorsement of the contents of those
sites.

For further information, please do not hesitate to OCHA Guinea:

Ms. Madeleine Maka Kaba
E-mail: madeleine.maka@undp.org
Tel: (012) 66 30 86

Mr. Sune Hjelmervik Gudnitz
E-mail : sune.gudnitz@undp.org
Tel: (012) 66 30 37

Ms. A. Sofie Garde Thomle
E-mail: sofie.gardethomle@undp.org
Tel: (012) 66 30 37



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