IOM has been asked by local authorities in Beyla in north-eastern
Guinea to urgently help nearly 900 stranded Guineans who have
crossed from Cote d'Ivoire and who need assistance to get to their
home villages.

The 887 returnees are currently being hosted by villagers in
Beyla, Sinko and Soumailasso but their presence and that of 159
Ivorian refugees who have also crossed the border into Guinea, is
stretching community and social resources to their full.

A joint IOM-UNHCR assessment mission to the area in order to
gauge numbers of arrivals and what assistance was needed and by
whom, found more than 70 entry points on the Guinea-Cote d'Ivoire
border. It is likely that more people will cross into the area in
the coming weeks if the political stalemate in Cote d'Ivoire
continues.

IOM, which has included transport assistance for up to 3,000
returnees and refugees in Guinea as part of a broader USD 3.5
million initial appeal on response to the Cote d'Ivoire crisis, is
assessing transport possibilities for helping the returnees reach
home communities. However, road and vehicle conditions in the area
are extremely poor.

Meanwhile, IOM has so far helped 133 Ivorian refugees from a
transit camp at Bossou in south eastern Guinea to the Kouankan 2
refugee camp over 180 kilometres away at the request of UNHCR. Of
the refugees assisted, 67 of them were unaccompanied minors ranging
between 11 and 16 years of age.

Information gleaned on the ground seems to indicate that the
children had initially travelled to Liberia with their families but
had been sent on to Guinea by their parents for linguistic reasons
in case the children can continue their education while displaced.
French is common to both Guineans and Ivorians.

Similar IOM operations are likely to take place in the coming
weeks as an estimated 10 refugees are arriving at Bossou transit
centre daily.

For further information, please contact:

Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 9486

       +41 79 217 3374

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int