Written question asked by Angus Robertson (Scottish National Party) on Tuesday, 8 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 February 2005. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Monday, 21 February 2005 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Dept for International Development

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Liberian refugees in West Africa. - Inc figures.

Answer: Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of Liberian refugees in West Africa. [216291] Hilary Benn: DFID relies mainly on data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who reports that there are currently 257,000 Liberian refugees registered in camps across West Africa: 42,000 in Ghana, 52,500 in Sierra Leone, 74,000 in Co®te d'Ivoire, 1,000 in the Gambia, and 87,500 in Guinea. These figures take into account recent voluntary facilitated returns of nearly 7,000 refugees from neighbouring countries, but may not take into account unofficial spontaneous repatriation. In addition, up to 75,000 Liberian refugees are estimated to reside outside formal refugee camps in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

Secondary information