Ivorian refugees crossing the river border into Liberia. They have left their homes fearing fresh fighting between government troops and rebel forces. November 2004.
Credit: IRIN |
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In the dusty devastated town of Voinjama, that once served as headquarters for Liberia's main rebel army, schools are undergoing repair and homes are being rebuilt as a touch of normality returns to Lofa County in the remote northwest after 14 years of civil war.
"We are seeing that things are coming on fine in Lofa," said Mulbah Farkollie, who was putting up a sheet of roofing on his home, burnt in a bout of fighting in 1999 between the Liberians United for Democracy (LURD) rebel movement and fighters loyal to then president Charles Taylor.
"Those of us who have homes that were destroyed are repairing them so that our families who fled from here can return and have places to reside," Farkollie said.
However, for the few Liberians who have returned home spontaneously, starting up a new life again amid the scars of war is no easy task.
Krubo Mulbah, who worked as a schoolteacher while in exile in Guinea, said it was hard to come home to see everything destroyed.
"We have to make life better here," she said. "Our presence will encourage others who fled [to return]."
"Coming from a refugee camp with no money on hand, it is very difficult for us to start renovating homes destroyed in the fighting," Tarnue Kollie, back from neighbouring Guinea after 10 years away from home, said. "Some of us are trying to use local palm thatch to roof our homes, so as at least to have a place to live in."
Barely a month ago, Lofa, located in the forested northwest tip of Liberia bordering Guinea and Sierra Leone, became the district in the country to be officially disarmed by UN peacekeepers.
Still, it has yet to be declared officially safe for the return of refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) by the conflict - one out of every five Liberians.
Before the outbreak of fighting in 1990, Voinjama was a hive of activity with a population of 100,000. It served as the capital of Lofa, a rich agricultural and diamond-mining area, which was regarded as Liberia's food basket prior to the war.
Unfortunately in 1999, when the guns opened up again after a two-year lull, it was from Voinjama that LURD launched its campaign to bring down Taylor. The town came to serve as the rebel capital.
Voinjama changed hands several times in fierce battles that have turned it into a burnt-out, bullet-scarred wreck. Most of its main buildings, including schools, clinics and government offices, have been destroyed by heavy artillery.
Rebels with guns all over
When disarmament finally came to an end in Lofa in late November, almost a month after the deadline set for handing in weapons in most other areas of Liberia, the UN found itself with quite an arsenal.
Gen Daniel Opande, commander of the UN peacekeeping force, said the amount of ammunition collected in this one county was almost equivalent to the total gathered by peacekeepers in the whole of Sierra Leone two years earlier.
Liberian refugee setting sail for home in mid-December 2004 in the first sea repatriation supervised by UNHCR in West Africa.
Credit: IRIN |
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Opande said peacekeepers of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had disarmed 5,000 fighters and collected 800,000 rounds of ammunition in Lofa, as well as a large number of mortar bombs and rockets.
Now, for the first time in five years, ordinary civilians are able to go about their business freely.
"Thank God that the UNMIL Pakistani peacekeepers are here and disarmament has ended," resident Daniel Korvah told IRIN. "We can now move about our normal activities without harassment and intimidation by fighters."
Kebeh Kessely, a former schoolteacher who remained in Voinjama throughout the war said "in the last five years, we had rebels with guns all over".
Improved security has brought trucks and other vehicles back onto the streets of Voinjama, carrying traders returning from the nearby Guinean border town of Macenta. A few shops have re-opened, offering food, clothing and household utensils brought across the border.
Three bars have been re-opened too, offering a bit of social life, notably for staff from the non-governmental organizations in town.
"Life has to continue and the war is over and behind us," said Stephen Zizi, owner of one popular spot.
Nevertheless, despite the upswing in safety, schools are not yet functioning and health centres need to be rehabilitated and staffed with trained practitioners.
William Jallah, Lofa's development superintendent, told IRIN that not a single school had been re-opened in any of the county's major towns.
"Some of the schools have been renovated," he said. "But they still lack benches and tables for students and teaching staff."
"Our children are idle and want to return to school," he added.
Similarly, although a few clinics had been renovated and re-opened, Voinjama's Tellewoyan Hospital, the main referral hospital for Lofa, had no assigned doctor and very few nurses and medical assistants, he said.
Spontaneous return of IDPs and refugees
Although Lofa, like eight other of Liberia's 15 counties, has not been declared safe for the return of the country's 600,000 refugees and IDPs. Town officials, as well as the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have reported large numbers of spontaneous returnees in the county's main towns. 
Liberian refugees arriving at the border point of Bo Waterside from Sierra Leone at the start of the UNHCR official repatriation programme October 1 2004.
Credit: IRIN |
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A briefing note prepared by the UNHCR sub-office in Voinjama dated 12 December said about 35,000 refugees and IDPs around Liberia had spontaneously returned to Lofa.
"Norwegian Refugee Council has employed forty-two monitors in Lofa to monitor the borders and document spontaneous returns", according to the briefing note, which was made available to IRIN. "They have been operational since the beginning of October."
Jallah, who is in charge of development in Lofa, said some of the returnees had traveled home to assess the situation before returning for good with their families.
"Because of the calm in security and the completion of disarmament, we are appealing to the UN and to the transitional government to declare Lofa safe for the return of refugees and displaced persons," he said.
To avoid trouble, both the UN and Liberia's transitional authorities have insisted that people be encouraged to return only when a county is safe. Key safety points are completion of disarmament, the presence of civil authorities, rehabilitation of basic services and full access for humanitarian workers.
Lt Colonel Ghulam Raza, the commanding officer of the UN's Pakistani peacekeepers in Lofa, said more time was needed before the county could be declared safe.
"We want to complete the second tranche payment of demobilized ex-combatants in the county before we declare it's safe, and this will take few weeks", he said.
All former combatants who registered for disarmament received a US $300 resettlement grant. The first tranche of $150 was paid as they handed in their weapons. The second was payable up to three months later once they returned to their home community.
However, many returnees are refusing to wait for official declarations and international assistance.
"One cannot just sit and wait for money," said Jenneh Kortu, who has begun selling second-hand clothes imported from Guinea. "We have to try to make money and that is why is why I opened my used clothes business in Voinjama."
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