Ivory Coast officials ordered a ship carrying 4,000 Liberian refugees back to open waters today despite concerns that the ship might not be seaworthy, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
She added that Ivory Coast officials forced most of the women and children who had been taken from the ship for medical care and food to get back on board. Government officials in the Ivory Coast, which officials of aid organizations say has been flooded with 350,000 Liberian refugees, have repeatedly declined to comment on the decision regarding the ship.
On Sunday panicky Liberians fleeing a month of fighting in their capital, Monrovia, packed the ship, the Bulk Challenge, a Ghana-bound freighter. Port officials said no more than 1,000 people should have been on board, although the ship's owner, who was aboard, has not been reached to confirm that assessment. The Bulk Challenge limped into San Pedro in western Ivory Coast on Monday. Some repairs were made on Thursday, but it was unclear whether the vessel was seaworthy when it set sail later that day.
Source: New York Times
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