LIBERIA / IVORIAN REFUGEES

The UN refugee agency is providing shelter for 15,000 Ivorian refugees at camp Bahn in Liberia, but in the last few weeks, the number of new arrivals has surged to more than 55,000, most from western Côte d'Ivoire. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:27
• Production Date: 8 March 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: COTE D'IVOIRE; LIBERIA
• MAMS Id: U110308d

Description

STORY: LIBERIA / IVORIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 1.27
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 18-22 FEBRUARY 2011, CAMP BAHN, LIBERIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, trucks arrives with refugees
2. Med shot, refugees stepping off the truck
3. Med shot, refugees waiting in line
4. Set up shot, Phillipe Cheugui talking to other men
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Phillipe Cheugui, teacher, Ivorian refugee:
“I stop from afar and I realized that here there were armed people. They were stopped there and they had come to hurt me.”
6. Wide shot, Phillipe and his wife Gueudoua Veh Elisee sitting
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Gueudoua Veh Elisee, Ivorian refugee:
“I am really happy to be here, until things get better. Then we can go back to Cote d’Ivoire. I am just happy to feel secure.”
8. Wide shot, people walking
9. Med shot, people waiting at registration point
10. Med shot, interior of registration office with people inside
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Phillipe Cheugui, teacher, Ivorian refugee:
“Actually, I came with one of my children and my wife. I have two children who are there with their grandmother.”
12. Med shot, family sitting on ground
13. Various shots, people waiting in line
14. Wide shot, cam and sunset

Storyline

Three months after these refugees fled their country, Cote d’Ivoire, they arrive to their temporary home, Camp Bahn in Liberia.

The journey from the village of Luguanto, where they were living with local families, took over five hours.

They are first families to arrive in the new camp, all fleeing the post election violence which has gripped their country.

Bahn refugee camp was set up to deal with the influx. Philippe Cheugui, an Ivorian school teacher, was a supporter of Laurent Bagbo, the incumbent who refuses to give up his presidency.

Cheugui came home one night only to be threatened.

SOUNDBITE (French) Philippe Cheugui, teacher, Ivorian Refugee:
“I stop from afar and I realized that there were armed people. They were stopped there and they had come to hurt me.”

Elisée, his wife, was a shop owner in Cote d’Ivoire.

SOUNDBITE (French) Elisée Veh Gueudoua, shop owner, Ivorian Refugee:
“I am really happy to be here, until things get better. Then we can go back to Côte d’Ivoire. I am just happy to feel secure.”

Initially villages hosted the refugees, but it was a struggle to feed and accommodate them.

Camp Bahn will alleviate some of that need, but it can take in only 15 thousand. In the last few weeks, the numbers of new arrivals has surged to more than 55 thousand, most from western Côte d’Ivoire.

They too need shelter. Philippe is grateful for the safety he and his wife have found, but he is still worried.

SOUNDBITE (French) Philippe Cheugui, teacher, Ivorian Refugee:
“Actually, I came with one of my children and my wife. I have two children who are there with their grandmother.”

The fighting has escalated in Côte d’Ivoire, so Philippe is anxious to be reunited with his daughters.

According to UNHCR staff, refugees entering Liberia said they fled actual fighting between the Forces Nouvelles and the forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo.

The worsening situation in Côte d’Ivoire could point to a return to civil war.