Thousands of refugees, still fearful or homeless, remain in camps
DAKAR (AlertNet) – Hundreds of families who sought refuge from post-election violence in Ivory Coast at a church compound in the western town of Duékoué have started returning to their communities, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Friday.
At the height of the violence in April up to 25,000 people were staying in and around the Catholic Mission in Duékoué, about 400 km west of Abidjan, which aid groups described as overcrowded and lacking the sanitation facilities to host such a population.
More than 3,000 people were killed in the fighting (including hundreds in inter-communal violence in Duekoue) between forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara and those loyal to his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to cede power after losing a presidential election last year.
Security improvements in western Ivory Coast have encouraged many displaced persons to consider returning to villages, with many families excited at the prospect of returning home, IOM said.
"I think I will do better by returning to my village," said one of the returnees who declined to give his name.
"Life in the camp has been good because it has provided us with security. Now things are better, I need to go home and rebuild my life for the sake of my children," the returnee added in the IOM statement.
A first convoy of 459 people left the church compound on Thursday under the supervision of Ivorian government authorities and the IOM, seven months after fighting stopped.
The IOM plans to relocate other families to their communities of origin or to a camp at the nearby town of Nahibly in the days to come.
Aid agencies warned that thousands of Ivorians, uprooted by the conflict, still fear for their safety in western Ivory Coast and continue to live in camps and in host communities.
“Some say they will have nowhere to stay because their houses were destroyed during the conflict,” the IOM statement said.
“Others are afraid of gun-carrying traditional fighters and other armed men, while a good number fear those who they say illegally occupied their plantations after they had fled,” the organisation added.
The IOM estimates that about 17,000 persons still live in camps throughout Ivory Coast in addition to thousands of others who are staying with host communities.
(Editing by Lisa Anderson)
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