Liberia and Ivory Coast Crisis

It is estimated that over 1,000 people are dead and more than 125,000 refugees have fled to Liberia due to the political unrest and violence in the country. Despite the capture of the former President Laurent Gbagbo on April 11th, it is anticipated that the refugee crisis will continue to worsen and the number of displaced people will increase substantially over the coming weeks.

As the situation on the Liberian border escalates there is a growing need for more emergency drugs and supplies, and increasingly for food and shelter supplies.  Merlin have decided to launch an emergency fundraising appeal in order to raise £100,000 to support our response.

HUGH'S APPEAL TO YOU

Having visited Liberia with the international medical aid agency Merlin last November, I can barely imagine how they are coping with the sudden influx of 100,000 refugees from The Ivory Coast. Some refugees have walked for days to reach safety, left loved ones behind, sustained gunshot or machete wounds and witnessed scenes of unimaginable terror. Over the border, they have been welcomed with open arms by Liberian families who ended their own civil war just eight years ago and remember with vivid clarity how they were given shelter by Ivorian families. But despite their good will, it is unclear how much longer these Liberian villages can absorb the steady flow of refugees, whose health needs are growing by the day. To stop the crisis in the Ivory Coast becoming a crisis in Liberia please give what you can to Merlin’s emergency response fund at www.merlin.org.uk