U.S. Mission to Italy

04 July 2003

U.S. Contributes Additional $10 Million For West African Refugees, July 3, 2003

(Funds for persons displaced by fighting in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire)

The United States has contributed an additional $10 million to international humanitarian agencies for assistance to displaced persons and families displaced by fighting in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire, the State Department announced on July 3.

The U.S. is allocating $8.25 million to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, $1.3 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and $450,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies "in response to recent appeals on behalf of refugees, conflict victims, and uprooted migrants in West Africa as a result of the conflicts in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire," according to the State Department.

The $10 million contribution is in addition to over $14 million already identified for U.S. humanitarian assistance for Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. The U.S. has also contributed $81 million for Africa-wide programs to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross.

Following is the text of a July 3 Media Note from the Department of State:
(begin text)

Department of State
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 3, 2003

U.S. Contributes Additional $10 Million to Humanitarian Agencies to Aid Refugees in West Africa

The United States is contributing an additional $10 million in refugee and migration assistance funding to help humanitarian agencies provide aid to those who have been uprooted by the often inter-twined conflicts in the West African nations of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire.

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is contributing $8.25 million to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, $1.3 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and $450,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in response to recent appeals on behalf of refugees, conflict victims, and uprooted migrants in West Africa as a result of the conflicts in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire.

The conflicts in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire have displaced tens of thousands of civilians and created new refugees. The conflicts have forced West African migrants from such countries as Burkina Faso and Mali who had been living and working in Côte d Ivoire -- sometimes for more than a generation -- to flee to their ancestral countries. Caught between two wars, Liberians and Ivoirians in their common border regions have fled back and forth as the fighting has shifted. Combatants on all sides have forcibly recruited refugees and other civilians, including young children. Refugee-weary Sierra Leone and Guinea have taken in new refugees, and the combat in Liberia s capital of Monrovia has put an estimated one million people at risk.

The $10 million contribution is in addition to over $14 million in earmarked U.S. humanitarian assistance for Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire to date this fiscal year. Additionally, the United States has contributed $81 million Africa-wide to UN High Commissioner for Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross, some of which also benefits these victims.

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