Sierra Leone: Information on the travel documents issued to convention refugees and whether there is a procedure for determining refugee status
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 August 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLE14917 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sierra Leone: Information on the travel documents issued to convention refugees and whether there is a procedure for determining refugee status, 1 August 1993, SLE14917, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab4d74.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to an official of the Sierra Leone embassy in Washington D.C., Sierra Leone has no clearly stated policy on asylum seekers and therefore has no stated procedure for determining refugee status (29 July 1993).
However, the official states that two classes of asylum seekers can still be identified. The first and principal category consists of asylum seekers from neighbouring west African countries escaping internal conflict such as civil war (Ibid.). The official cited the recent mass movement of displaced Liberians into Sierra Leone and the influx of asylum seekers from the former Biafra during the Nigerian civil war, as examples of this category. This category of displaced persons and asylum seekers enter Sierra Leone because they have relatives there, are members of the same ethnic group or because it is the nearest and safest country (Ibid.). They enter Sierra Leone as visitors and are allowed to stay for as long as they want (Ibid.). The official is not aware of the government issuing travel documents to such persons.
The second category of displaced persons or asylum seekers consists of those from other African and non-African countries, hoping to escape human rights violations in their countries (Ibid.). According to the official, they too arrive as visitors and are allowed to stay in the country. The official cited Namibians, Zimbabweans, South Africans and Lebanese all as having belonged to this second category.
Although there is an office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Freetown, it has operated much the same as have the other international agencies assisting the multitudes of displaced Liberians who fled to Sierra Leone (Ibid.). The official stated that he was only aware of the UNHCR providing food, medicine and accommodation to displaced persons or asylum seekers, and not of the government of Sierra Leone or the UNHCR issuing travel documents to such persons or (Ibid.).
Additional and/or corroborative information on the requested subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.
Reference
Embassy of Sierra Leone, Washington, D.C. 30 July 1993. Telephone interview with the official.
