U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 - Sierra Leone

At the close of 1998, approximately 480,000 Sierra Leoneans were refugees, including an estimated 350,000 in Guinea, about 120,000 in Liberia, 7,000 in Gambia, and close to 3,000 in other countries. More than 300,000 Sierra Leoneans were internally displaced.

At least 20,000 Sierra Leonean refugees returned home during the year.

Approximately 10,000 Liberian refugees remained in Sierra Leone at year's end.

The final weeks of 1998 brought a renewed rebel advance in Sierra Leone, creating further population movements and causing observers to predict renewed refugee flows.

Political Background

The restoration of Sierra Leone's democratically elected government early in the year raised hopes that Africa's poorest nation would have another chance to achieve peace and stability. By year's end, however, the government appeared on the verge of being overthrown again. Low-level warfare and new population displacement resumed. More than 15 percent of Sierra Leone's 4.6 million people were uprooted by ongoing violence.

Sierra Leone's conflict is linked to neighboring Liberia's civil war. In 1991, a Sierra Leonean rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), joined forces with West African mercenaries and an armed Liberian faction to attack villages in eastern Sierra Leone's lucrative diamond mining region. Sierra Leone's poorly disciplined government army, operating in conjunction with West African peacekeeping troops (known as ECOMOG) supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), failed to check what became an increasingly incoherent and brutal rural rebellion.

A South African mercenary company, hired by the Sierra Leonean government in 1995, held the rebels at bay long enough for elections to take place in February and March 1996, despite ongoing insecurity in some areas. An overwhelming majority voted for the civilian presidential candidate, Tejan Kabbah, an ethnic Mende from the south, who promised a new beginning after years of military rule. Yet the new government and the rebels were slow to reach a final peace accord.

Longstanding patterns of abuse by government soldiers (colloquially called "sobels" – short for "soldier-rebels") persuaded the country's newly elected officials to marginalize the military in favor of an expanded civil defense force whose members were part of a predominantly ethnic-Mende secret society, the Kamajohs. Joined by other traditional militia, they came to be known collectively as the Civil Defense Unit (CDU).

In late 1996, the Kamajoh militia made significant gains against the RUF rebels. Hundreds of thousands of uprooted Sierra Leoneans returned home. The RUF and the government signed a peace agreement, known as the Abidjan Accords, in November 1996. South African mercenaries withdrew while West African peacekeeping troops affiliated with ECOMOG remained. The peace accords collapsed the following year.

In May 1997, elements of Sierra Leone's army overthrew President Kabbah and declared the creation of an "Armed Forces Revolutionary Council" (AFRC) with the support of the RUF rebels. The country's democratically elected president fled to neighboring Guinea, international aid agencies evacuated, and the UN slapped an arms and oil embargo on Sierra Leone. Fierce fighting between ECOMOG forces and AFRC/RUF combatants produced additional displacement and refugee flows to neighboring countries.

In October 1997, ECOWAS and the AFRC reached a cease-fire agreement. The accord provided for the restoration of democratically elected President Kabbah to power by April 1998, resumption of large scale humanitarian assistance, demobilization of combatants, immunity from prosecution for coup leaders, and an ill-defined role in the peace process for the charismatic RUF leader Foday Sankoh, in detention in Nigeria at the time.

Two months later, an impasse persisted regarding the release of Sankoh, disagreements over the role of Nigeria within the West African ECOMOG peacekeeping force, and the rules governing demobilization of AFRC troops. The ruling junta announced it would not yield power as previously agreed. Kamajoh militia, loyal to President Kabbah, launched a series of new attacks across the country as 1997 ended.

Warfare in 1998

Heavy fighting continued during 1998, with dramatic offensives and retreats by both sides.

In mid-February, the Nigerian contingent of ECOMOG drove the AFRC junta from the capital, Freetown. President Kabbah returned to power in March. By the end of the month, ECOMOG and pro-government troops reclaimed most major towns except Kailahun, in the diamond-rich region of Eastern Province.

The international community established a trust fund to provide economic and development aid to Sierra Leone. Donors and international aid agencies quickly moved to resume large-scale operations. The UN lifted most sanctions.

Rebels loyal to the deposed junta systematically terrorized rural areas after their ouster from Freetown. ECOMOG and pro-government forces continued to control the country's main roads and major urban areas. Junta troops maintained their stronghold in the eastern diamond mining region and sporadically fought ECOMOG in northern and eastern Sierra Leone. A virtual stalemate persisted for much of the year, although the security situation remained fluid from region to region.

By October, the southern province was reported free of rebel activity, but pockets of resistance persisted in Kabala in the north and Kono and Kailahun in the east. A resurgence of rebel activity prompted ECOMOG to request additional funding for more troops and equipment.

The rebels' systematic human rights abuses instilled fear in the population well beyond rebelcontrolled territory. Forty percent of the rebels' approximately 15,000 combatants were children, according to some estimates. Many were forcibly conscripted. Rebel abuses against the civilian population included sexual exploitation, slavery, and gruesome mutilations committed on an unprecedented scale.

The Sierra Leonean government charged that the rebels relied on rear bases in Liberia. Although the Liberian government repeatedly denied such claims, many observers suspected that Liberian President Charles Taylor supported RUF and harbored animosity toward ECOMOG because it opposed him in Liberia's civil war.

Insurgent AFRC/RUF forces escalated attacks against ECOMOG and pro-government forces in the southeast late in the year. In late December, the rebels captured Makeni, the capital of Northern Province. The military situation deteriorated as the rebels captured a string of towns in the north and advanced toward the capital. Most aid agencies, with the exception of ICRC, evacuated their international staff.

At year's end, a rebel attack on Freetown was imminent.

Refugees from Sierra Leone

Approximately 300,000 Sierra Leoneans fled their country in 1998. By year's end, more than 50,000 new Sierra Leonean refugees arrived in Liberia, and over 200,000 new refugees fled to Guinea, bringing the total number of Sierra Leonean refugees to 480,000.

When fighting erupted between ECOMOG and junta forces in February, thousands fled Freetown, many by boat. At least 140 drowned when their boat capsized.

Immediately after the fall of Freetown, intense fighting between ECOMOG and junta forces moved toward the capital of Eastern Province, Kenema. UNHCR reported that 700 to 1,000 refugees per day fled the region on foot to Liberia. During late March, the outflow to Liberia reached a peak of 5,000 per day. By mid-year, more than 50,000 new Sierra Leonean refugees were in Liberia.

Refugees fled to Liberia primarily from the Kenema and Kailahun regions of Eastern Province, as well as the Bo and Pujehun areas of Southern Province. By mid-April, the exodus to Liberia slowed as ECOMOG appeared to gain the upper hand.

By mid-year, AFRC/RUF rebel forces spread their campaign of terror and mutilation of civilians to parts of the north and northwest. Violence eventually affected about half the country.

Refugees fled to Guinea primarily from the Kono, Kambia, Kailahun and Kenema areas of Northern Province and Eastern Province. By the end of the year, more than 200,000 new refugees from Sierra Leone had arrived in Guinea, according to UNHCR. Many died en route because of war-related injuries, exposure, and starvation.

Fleeing refugees continued to report large numbers of rapes, mutilations, and other atrocities committed by insurgents. "Those who turn their weapons against civilians in this way...should be brought to trial. We have to see to it that justice is done," a UNHCR official stated.

Internal Displacement

The perpetual campaign of terror and insurgency left hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans internally displaced at year's end.

Population movements were fluid throughout the year. Some families were able to return to their home areas during 1998, but new population displacement occurred at other locations. Internally displaced Sierra Leoneans primarily fled rebel-controlled rural areas in the east, north and northwestern regions of the country. By year's end, a new rebel offensive sent thousands of civilians fleeing.

Most uprooted Sierra Leoneans sought refuge with relatives in other areas of the country. Aid agencies discouraged the establishment of relief-dependent camps. Substantial portions of the population lived in rough shelters throughout the countryside and emerged only when security improved.

Hospitals treated thousands of wounded patients from rural areas after rebels systematically hacked off their limbs and reportedly ordered their victims to "go tell Kabbah we're still here." Atrocities took place on an unprecedented scale. Between 1991 and 1997, aid agencies treated about 120 survivors of rebel atrocities. During March to November 1998, relief workers reported a ten-fold increase in victims seeking medical care for atrocities inflicted on them.

In parts of the country most affected by the violence, malnutrition surpassed the 10 percent threshold at which a nutritional crisis is normally declared, according to UN agencies. Visible signs of malnutrition were widespread among the displaced populations that fled those areas.

Relations between internally displaced people and local host communities were sometimes strained due to limited resources in the impoverished countryside. Some towns swelled to twice their normal size as displaced families arrived. As many as 20 to 30 people lived in individual houses in some locations, according to aid officials.

UN agencies estimated that between 310,000 to 380,000 Sierra Leoneans were internally displaced at year's end. The U.S. State Department reported the war had uprooted as many as 500,000. These estimates were unverifiable because much of the country remained inaccessible to international relief workers.

USCR estimated that at least than 300,000 Sierra Leoneans remained internally displaced at year's end. This figure, like others, was speculative.

Repatriation to Sierra Leone

Some refugees returned to relatively stable areas of Sierra Leone during 1998 while others fled rebel-held territory.

Hundreds of government employees and their families who had escaped to Guinea during the 1997 coup returned home in March 1998 when the government was restored. An additional 14,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea officially repatriated to Freetown by bus and by plane later in the year with UNHCR assistance.

The government requested that priority be given to the return of skilled professionals, civil servants, and students who could assist in reconstruction efforts. The organized repatriation did not meet those expectations, according to aid workers.

In August and September, UN agencies reported that as many as 10,000 to 20,000 refugees spontaneously returned from Liberia to the Zimmi area in Southern Province and to Kenema, the capital of Eastern Province, effectively controlled by pro-government forces and ECOMOG troops at the time. NGOs, however, estimated that no more than 5,000 actually returned to these areas.

UNHCR reported that it planned to launch a pilot project for some 10,000 people in eastern Sierra Leone to assist spontaneous returnees with food and non-food items, shelter, health care, and water systems.

Humanitarian Relief

Persistent insecurity thwarted aid agencies' efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Sierra Leone's traumatized population. Some remote areas of the country, particularly in the northeast, were inaccessible for much of 1997 and remained cut off from humanitarian relief in 1998.

In January and early February, virtually no food aid arrived in Sierra Leone, a result of ECOMOG's failure to implement clearance procedures. Feeding programs for the malnourished virtually came to a standstill early in the year.

Following the overthrow of the AFRC in February, relief agencies stepped up their operations to address severe humanitarian needs. Some 60 national and international relief agencies provided assistance in Sierra Leone at year's end, according to OCHA.

As junta forces retreated in February, they briefly took some foreign aid workers – mainly missionaries – hostage. All were later released unharmed.

In July, the UN held a special conference in New York to address the crisis in Sierra Leone. The UN established a new peacekeeping operation, the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). By the end of August, UNOMSIL had deployed 40 military observers and a 15-person medical team. They assisted humanitarian operations and investigated security incidents.

By mid-year, security concerns limited land access to interior locations, hampering aid efforts. Aid agencies received little reliable information regarding humanitarian needs in areas outside ECOMOG control. Food was scarce in some rural areas. Populations in areas cut off from international humanitarian assistance were the hardest hit.

Ongoing violence in areas of Eastern and Northern Provinces disrupted the planting season. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in July that Sierra Leone would face drastic food shortages in 1999. By October, the UN Secretary General reported to the Security Council that "a humanitarian crisis of serious proportions is developing in isolated areas of Sierra Leone," particularly the northeast.

As the carnage in the northeast continued, aid operations increasingly came under threat. In October, four people were killed in an ambush of a convoy operated by the ICRC. Pro-government Civil Defense Units occasionally interfered with the delivery of humanitarian supplies, relief workers reported.

Liberian Refugees

At the beginning of 1998, approximately 12,000 Liberian refugees remained in Sierra Leone, according to UNHCR. Eight thousand Liberian refugees lived north of the capital, near the town of Waterloo in a camp with several thousand internally displaced Sierra Leoneans.

As rebels advanced toward Freetown in late December, they attacked the town of Waterloo. The camp population dispersed. The exact location of the 8,000 Liberian refugees living in the camp and the several thousand others who lived on their own, was unknown at year's end. Like many other civilians in Sierra Leone, their situation remained precarious.

About 600 Liberians officially repatriated in 1998. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other Liberian refugees probably returned home spontaneously without assistance.