Military

DATE=10/30/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268618

TITLE=UNHCR REFUGEES GUINEA (L-O)

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-N aid workers say conditions in camps near the border regions of Guinea have deteriorated since the U-N Refugee Agency withdrew. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the agency recently sent several missions to the camps to assess the security situation as well as refugee needs.

TEXT: The U-N refugee agency withdrew its people from the camps in mid-September, after one aid worker was abducted and another murdered by rebels based across the border in Sierra Leone or Liberia. Authorities in Guinea say that, since the end of August, there have been 15 cross-border attacks by the rebels that have led to the deaths of at least 360-Guineans. But the U-N-H-C-R says the attacks now appear to be tapering off.

U-N-H-C-R spokesman Kris Janowski says aid officials say the situation is improving in the border camps, which are located in the regions of Forecariah and Gueckedou.

/// JANOWSKI ACT ///

There have been no fresh attacks and also the atmosphere, or the tension, basically between the local population and the refugee population which had been accused previously of aiding rebels and so on and so forth, that tension has apparently subsided.

/// END ACT ///

Nevertheless, Mr. Janowski says, the U-N-H-C-R is waiting to see if the security risks are truly over before deciding to send aid workers back to the camps. In the meantime, he says, the agency will continue to provide assistance to the thousands of Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees in the border camps on a day-to-day basis. He acknowledges the absence of aid workers is taking a toll on the refugees.

/// 2nd JANOWSKI ACT ///

There have been areas where aid deliveries have been interrupted for weeks on end. So, that had some impact on the people living there. Our doctor, medical coordinator, the main medical official warned that the nutritional situation was deteriorating and, in fact, could deteriorate even further if the situation continues to be the way it is.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Janowski says the agency has begun distributing some food supplies for 27-thousand refugees in Forecariah and expects to resume food distribution for 43-thousand refugees in Gueckedou this week. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/KL/RAE