ABIDJAN, Nov 9 (IPS) – Liberia’s two-month-old interim government is facing difficulty in convincing the refugees who fled the five- years of bitter civil war to return home, despite the promises of peace and elections.

Liberia’s rival warlords signed an accord in Abuja, Nigeria, in August which led to the swearing in of a power-sharing National Reconciliation Council (NRC) in Monrovia on Sep. 1.

‘’The NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) announces the dawn of a new era. An era in which we must together vow to make war no more … (and) salvage what is left of our battered country and people,’’ NPFL chief Charles Taylor said as he was sworn in as vice-president of the Council.

Chaired by university Professor Wilson Sankawolo, the NRC has a one-year mandate from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations, to disarm soldiers, organise democratic elections, restore civilian rule and ensure the repatriation of the refugees.

Disarmament of Liberia’s eight factions is supposed to kick off on Dec. 1.

To bring home the 800,000 Liberians out of a pre-war population of 2.5 million that fled the country, the NRC has set up the Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC)

‘’The idea for establishing the LRRRC is that for real democratic elections to take place, as many Liberians as possible should be encouraged to participate,’’ stresses Weade Kobbah- Wureh, head of the LRRRC.

‘’We are going to build schools, vocational centers and move to accommodate our returning brothers and sisters. Those who were formerly working would be provided with jobs,’’ he promises.

However, memories of the arbitrary torture and killings in a war that claimed more than 160,000 lives has left many Liberians who fled abroad sceptical of the ongoing pacification process.

For instance, 20-year-old Tina Johnson who was in high school in Ganta, north-eastern Liberia says: ‘’I have nothing to return to for now. I do not even believe this war is over anyway.’’

Living in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire, she recalls that in 1992, ‘’some of my friends returned home, only to be caught in the cross- fire. I am not going to believe people like that, return home only to meet the death from which I have been running away for five years.’’

Johnson, who lost her family in the fighting, has learned to cope in the Ivoirian capital, Abidjan. ‘’Here, I survive doing odd jobs, when they are available. If not, I leave everything to god,’’ she said.

Another women who prefers to remain anonymous does not bother to hide her anger with those urging her to join a peace process of which she is wary: ‘’They did not bring me here. They do not know how I have survived all these years. It’s none of their business persuading me to go home.’’

‘’If they think it if safe for them in Liberia, they should stay, but they should leave some of us alone.’’

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) has called on the NRC to: ‘’assert its authority over the armed groups and the AFL (Armed Forces of Liberia) to ensure that they do not commit human rights abuses such as torture and extrajudicial executions.’’

AI also recommends that those implicated in human rights violations should be investigated and brought to justice.

In the meantime, many refugees are condemned to a life of insecurity in their host countries. In Cote d’Ivoire for instance, ongoing economic reforms have fuelled unemployment and hiked the cost of living.

‘’Until I became displaced, I never thought life could be so difficult,’’ admits Lawson Tolman (30), another Liberian refugee in Abidjan. ‘’Before the war, I was going to college, preparing myself for the future. That future has caved in since.’’

‘’I feel disturbed, staying at home. I prefer killing time at the bars and night clubs,’’ says Tolman, ‘’You see, it is not easy brother being idle, especially in a foreign land.’’

At home, the various factions that fought to control Liberia after Taylor invaded the country from Cote d’Ivoire and ousted President Samuel Doe, are transforming themselves into political parties in preparation for multiparty elections scheduled for 1996.

Whether they can be held without recourse to violence again keeps all Liberians concerned. (end/ips/md/jm/oa/95)

Origin: Harare/LIBERIA-POLITICS/ ----

[c] 1995, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved

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