MONROVIA - Villages along Liberia's border with Ivory Coast are overwhelmed with refugees but the country will not allow its own stability to be threatened, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said.
About 29000 people have fled to Liberia from the Ivory Coast, where two bitter rivals both claim to be president, raising the threat of civil war.
"I want to reassure the Liberian people that we will not let this sad situation threaten our peace," Johnson Sirleaf said in a speech yesterday to mark the new year.
"We will work with regional and international partners to find a resolution," she said.
Liberia is a member of the West African bloc Ecowas, which is pushing Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo to give way for Alassane Ouatarra, the internationally recognised winner of the November 28 presidential elections.
Liberia is most vulnerable in the region to the conflict, the president said, and has taken in the most people fleeing the Ivory Coast to escape the mounting tensions.
Refugees have moved into 23 villagers along the border, she said.
"Those villages are now overcrowded. Our citizens have been sharing their rice and other produce recently harvested, but they are now overwhelmed, and camps are being built to hold the many thousands of our Ivorian brothers and sisters," she said.
Liberia was ravaged by a series of wars between 1989 and 2003 that left about 250000 people dead with about 500000 fleeing their homes, or the country.
Liberia to ensure peace and order
MONROVIA - Villages along Liberia's border with Ivory Coast are overwhelmed with refugees but the country will not allow its own stability to be threatened, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said.
About 29000 people have fled to Liberia from the Ivory Coast, where two bitter rivals both claim to be president, raising the threat of civil war.
"I want to reassure the Liberian people that we will not let this sad situation threaten our peace," Johnson Sirleaf said in a speech yesterday to mark the new year.
"We will work with regional and international partners to find a resolution," she said.
Liberia is a member of the West African bloc Ecowas, which is pushing Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo to give way for Alassane Ouatarra, the internationally recognised winner of the November 28 presidential elections.
Liberia is most vulnerable in the region to the conflict, the president said, and has taken in the most people fleeing the Ivory Coast to escape the mounting tensions.
Refugees have moved into 23 villagers along the border, she said.
"Those villages are now overcrowded. Our citizens have been sharing their rice and other produce recently harvested, but they are now overwhelmed, and camps are being built to hold the many thousands of our Ivorian brothers and sisters," she said.
Liberia was ravaged by a series of wars between 1989 and 2003 that left about 250000 people dead with about 500000 fleeing their homes, or the country.
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