At the end of 2003, about 884,000 Liberians were uprooted, including an estimated 500,000 internally displaced persons and 386,000 refugees and asylum seekers. More than 300,000 Liberians fled their homes during the year, although some returned home before year's end.

The nearly 384,000 Liberian refugees and asylum seekers included some 170,000 in Guinea, some 74,000 in Côte d'Ivoire, about 70,000 in Sierra Leone, up to 42,000 in Ghana, some 6,000 in Nigeria, about 2,000 in Mali, and nearly 5,000 in the United States and other industrialized countries. Another 15,000 are in the United States under Temporary Protected Status.

About 60,000 refugees lived in Liberia at the end of 2003, including an estimated nearly 38,000 from Côte d'Ivoire, 12,000 from Sierra Leone, and some 10,000 from various other West African countries.

Violence and New Massive Displacement

In spring 2003, hostilities escalated between Charles Taylor's government forces and the two main opposition groups, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), a new insurgency which appeared virtually overnight. LURD increased its attacks upon camps sheltering internally displaced persons. A late March LURD attack on the Ricks camp for internally displaced Liberians uprooted some 25,000 persons. In southeastern Liberia, MODEL rebels physically threatened and robbed civilians forcing many to flee into Côte d'Ivoire.

In April, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated there were about 200,000 internally displaced in the country. By the end of summer, that number had grown to well over 500,000, with 300,000 in Monrovia and the remaining in camps outside of the city.

During the year about 100,000 more Liberians fled to neighboring countries seeking protection as refugees or asylees, with nearly half arriving in Côte d'Ivoire.

In mid-May, MODEL rebels, who maintained rear bases in western Côte d'Ivoire, quickly gained control of most of eastern Liberia, including Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, and River Gee Counties, and attacked government troops in the port city of Harper, in Maryland County. The violence forced nearly 50,000 Liberians from their homes. Most sought refuge in neighboring Côte d'Ivoire, but lack of security in the region and proximity to the border left thousands unprotected and without basic emergency humanitarian assistance. The large influx of new refugees from Côte d'Ivoire sent food prices soaring and triggered a health crisis in small border communities.

During the summer, shelling and gunfire ravaged the capital of Monrovia forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes and seek shelter in already established camps for internally displaced persons, irregular settlements, or the homes of other residents. At the end of July, a 35,000-seat sports stadium housed about 50,000 displaced people who were facing starvation and unsanitary conditions.

Throughout mid year, both internally displaced persons and their host communities faced severe food shortages. Thirty-five percent of the population was undernourished and only one quarter had access to clean water. By August, the health situation had declined dramatically. About 1.3 million people had been exposed to outbreaks of malaria, pneumonia, cholera, measles, and other diseases in Monrovia and its surroundings. During September, over 2000 new cholera cases erupted weekly, resulting in over 10,000 cases by month's end. The cholera outbreak did not abate until a month later.

Militias and government troops looted deserted homes and extorted fees at checkpoints from fleeing civilians. Sexual violence was rampant against civilians of all ages, including boys, girls, and elderly women. Repeatedly, armed forces recruited children to serve as soldiers, kidnapped civilians for ransom, beat and harassed civilians, and forced many children into prostitution. An estimated 15,000 of Liberia's 40,000 to 50,0000 combatants were children, according to the UN.

In August, peacekeeping forces from the Economic Community of West Africa Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) deployed to the country. U.S. soldiers also briefly deployed to the war-torn country to help quell the violence. Fighting continued despite Charles Taylor's resignation and departure on August 11 and the signing of a peace agreement one week later. As late as November, skirmishes between former government fighters and MODEL displaced about 10,000 civilians in north central Liberia.

While security conditions showed little improvement, in August, a number of families returned home to the Western suburbs of Monrovia where ECOMIL forces had been deployed. In September, between 3,000-4,000 persons returned to the town of Zwedru from Côte d'Ivoire where political instability was imminent. By the end of the year, about 42,000 Liberian refugees had returned to their homeland from Côte d'Ivoire, many fleeing the crisis in that country. UNHCR estimated that 100,000 Liberians would likely return home in 2004.

Refugee Influx

During the year, the continuing violence in Côte d'Ivoire drove 38,000 Ivorians and an estimated 10,500 third country nationals from Mali and Burkina Faso into Liberia. In August, about 15,000 refugees from Sierra Leone, who had been displaced during the summer fighting, returned to three camps in the Monteserrado region. Several thousand Sierra Leonean refugees returned home during the year.

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