A personal account from the Liberia and Ivory Coast border

Plan staff talking to an unaccompanied child at a Liberian border crossing.

An estimated 90,000 Ivorian refugees, including thousands of children, have sought shelter in Nimba and Grand Gedeh Counties in Liberia as fierce battle rages on in Abidjan between forces loyal to outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and elected President Alassane Ouattara. Over a million Ivorians are estimated to be internally displaced and thousands are said to have lost their lives in the conflict.
 
Plan International is working in communities of Mahdiaplay, Gbeivonwea, and Garplay in Nimba County and has expanded its activity in areas of education and child protection following the influx of Ivorian refugees. The UN says around 59% of refugees crossing one border area are children.
 
Berenger Berehoudougou, Plan’s West Africa Regional Disaster Risk Management Specialist has just returned from the Liberia and Ivory Coast border where he met thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in Ivory Coast. Following is his personal account.

An eye-witness's account

Félicité arrived in Liberia completely naked, carrying three young children under 6.  She’d walked nearly 150 miles for two weeks through the forest to escape the fighting in Ivory Coast. On the way, she was attacked by bandits. They took everything – even her clothes.

She fled the violence in Abidjan on a Red Cross truck. From the Western town of Daloa, she and her sister set off through the forest on foot, taking their three children with them.  Her sister didn’t make it to Liberia. She was too weak. She’s buried in an unmarked grave, somewhere in the bush. 

Now Félicité, in her early thirties, has her sister’s five year old daughter to care for, as well as her one year old son and three year old daughter.  She has no idea where their fathers are.  In the past month, she has seen several friends and relatives killed in front of her.  She and the children are so distressed they can barely speak. 

All along the Liberia border in Nimba County, I met refugee children who couldn’t smile and couldn’t play. They were too shocked by all the violence they had seen. Most came from villages in the area near Duekoue in Ivory Coast, the town where hundreds of people are said to have been killed. 

Some told me that armed men came to their villages and attacked them. They saw neighbours killed by gunfire, just metres away from them. Those hiding in the bushes were hunted down and killed.

Escaping to Liberia was a long and horrific journey for many. They had to run from gunfire, they saw dead bodies along the route and they were forced to wade through rivers. Children also had to experience this. Some arrived in Liberia, having not eaten anything for days.  Others survived only on wild bananas.

It’s mostly women and children crossing the border from Ivory Coast. I saw only a few men.  I don’t know what happened to the men and boys. Some young people told me their brothers and fathers were fighting for one of the sides in the conflict in Ivory Coast. But no one seems sure of what is happening back in their home country.

These young people and their families need help to make sure they’re safe. Children need safe spaces to just be children – to play and try to recover from their traumatic experiences.

Everyone in the local community needs to know about children’s rights and how to protect young people from abuse. Children need to continue their education, even though they are living as refugees.  

Many people who have fled Ivory Coast are staying with relatives just over the Liberia border. Along the border area, many people are of the same ethnic group so there is no trouble with the newcomers. However, every day, as the fighting grows more intense, more and more people arrive in Liberia. They are traumatised - the children especially. 

Félicité and her three young children are now clothed and receiving help from aid agencies.  It’s clear that the number of refugees like them, in need of urgent assistance, is likely to grow in the days ahead.