From: barnhart@netcom.com (Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:GAMBIA: NEW INFLUX OF REFUGEES STRE
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 05:17:24 GMT
Organization: Netcom
Reply-To: barnhart@netcom.com

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, southern
Title: GAMBIA: NEW INFLUX OF REFUGEES STRETCHES AID AGENCIES TO LIMIT


an inter press service feature

by peter da costa

banjul, aug 14 (ips) -- gambia's relief authorities say the
tiny west african country is in danger of being overwhelmed by
the influx of refugees from southern senegal fleeing attacks
attributed to the separatist mouvement des forces democratiques
de la casamance (mfdc).

the renewed concern follows the arrival in gambian border
villages last week of nearly 800 refugees from the casamance
village of medina daffeh.

gambia's geographic position makes it the first port of call
for fleeing casamancais. the country is a sliver of land
dividing senegal between north and south, and its border towns
have played host to successive waves of refugees.

local red cross society activists, who have been at the
forefront of humanitarian efforts since casamance residents
began fleeing into gambia, say the have cared for more than
2,000 refugees from senegal since december 1991.

the refugees, mainly of mandinka ethnicity, said they were
beaten and driven from their homes by guerillas of the mfdc,
which is dominated by the diola ethnic group.

at least eight people are reported to have been killed this
month after separatists from five surrounding diola villages
terrorised the mandinkas - who they accuse of failing to support
the mfdc's armed campaign for independence from northern
senegal.

ensa manneh, who lost his four-year-old daughter khadi in the
attack, says: ''i tried to enter my house with my child, when
suddenly a bullet penetrated her head. she did not die on the
spot. i decided to rush her for treatment, but before we could
reach medical personnel i noticed that my daughter was gone''.

manneh added: ''i managed to walk all the way to darsilameh
with my dead daughter on my back, and with the help of residents
there i buried khadi.''

although officials in dakar insist the trouble in casamance
is the work of bandits posing as separatists, mfdc spokesman
abbe diamacoune senghor dissociates his movement from the ethnic
feuding, blaming the clashes on ''elements wishing to hijack our
cause... for their own ends''. (more/ips)


gambia: new influx (2)

mfdc separatists have long demanded independence from
senegal. before the may 31, 1991 ceasefire between the mfdc and
senegal's armed forces, a two-year intensification of the mfdc
armed campaign had claimed 200 military and civilian lives.

in the lull since the ceasefire, a new ethnic dimension to
the conflict has surfaced. last december 300 guinean charcoal
and firewood merchants in casamance were beaten and expelled
into gambia by would-be separatists who claimed the region's
sacred forests were being cut down indiscriminately for trade.

but, the conflict has stretched gambia's red cross society to
its limits, say officials, with 70 volunteers now living and
working with refugees in the temporary camps. since december,
2,453 senegalese have received humanitarian assistance,
according to public relations officer andrew jarju.

the refugees are currently being sheltered at primary schools
in darsilameh, busura and brikama, three southern gambian towns
bordering casamance.

''after the first influx funds for logistical operations and
purchase of foodstuffs came in, we were given blankets and the
unhcr donated about 4,500 dollars for a three-month operation
between march and may. but things have escalated'', jarju
reports.

''we are barely managing with our own local resources. our
funds are dry and our stores are almost dry, we are in a serious
situation. we have some rice and oil, but you can't just feed
refugees rice and oil, can you?''

the red cross has repatriated some refugees, but most are
scared to return after the initial three-month period when they
qualify for shelter and feeding.

''after three months we provide them with land from the local
authority and give them groundnut and millet seed in the hope
that by the time the harvest comes in october they will be
self-sufficient'', explains jarju.

but jarju fears saturation point at any time. ''we're racing
against time. when schools reopen in september we'll have to
find new space for the refugees, and in gambia we have no
purpose-built camps or structures. so either they decide to go
home or we're in big trouble''. (end/ips/pdac/tvh/oa)

-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@netcom.com) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african