Photo Credit: Refugees International/ Sally Chin
06/11/2005

The majority of Liberian refugees have had to integrate into local villages, with mixed results. In the Tabou region, around 30,000 Liberians are located in over 80 villages. Here in Prollo, a village located on the river that divides Cote d'Ivoire from Liberia, the refugees seemed to be managing relatively well. Because of their location on the border, they receive regular information regarding the situation in Liberia; Liberians even cross over to take part in their Thursday market and to play in their football league.

As these Liberians are not in camps, the assistance they receive is limited to various village-based initiatives including a health clinic, wells and a community center providing non-formal education. However, these programs appear to go a long way in helping to bring together Ivorians and Liberians and to bridge differences. Liberians in Prollo told RI that they were able to come to agreements with the Ivorian leadership in Prollo regarding the right to forage in the bush for food and wood with which to make charcoal. They were upset, however, by what they perceived as a double standard between those in camps who received food assistance and those in villages who had to “fend for themselves.”