| Global update |
Liberians arrested for defiance to disarmament
Religious conflict between Muslims and Christians has
also contributed to the fighting and destruction
BY JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONROVIA, Liberia — Armed
U.N. troops arrested dozens of men
Sunday in a sometimes-bloody con
clusion to a countrywide disarma
ment program, days after a fresh
burst of violence in the war-battered
West African nation.
In one neighborhood, about 80 men
and boys lay on the ground surround
ed by U.N. Ghanaian and Nigerian
peacekeepers after one of several U.N.
raids. Their ragged clothes were blood
stained and their wounds were bleed
ing from what they said was the
violence of their arrests.
U.N. forces said the men had been
firing weapons and intimidating resi
dents. Gunfire blasted across the
area, at least some of them warning
shots from U.N. peacekeepers sweep
ing sites for arms.
Bangladeshi U.N. troops searched
vehicles for weapons at checkpoints
across the capital, Monrovia, while
Nigerian U.N. forces patrolled in ve
hicles with mounted machine guns.
Sunday stood as the deadline for
civilians to surrender weapons under
a U.N.-supported disarmament pro
gram, launched in December 2003
after the end of the latest of nearly
1 1/2 decades of civil wars here.
The project collected guns from
90,000 ex-combatants, who gave up
their weapons for $300 and access to
U.N.-backed rehabilitation programs,
according to U.N. figures.
Authorities promised prosecution
for those found with weapons after
Sunday.
“The deadline is still today. What we
have planned to do after today is still in
force,” a U.N. military official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said by tele
phone from U.N. headquarters.
Monrovia is still on edge after a sur
prise outbreak of Muslim-Christian
fighting Friday, marking some of the
worst violence since last year’s peace.
The confirmed death toll in Fri
day’s fighting remained at five, with
five churches and an undetermined
number of mosques burned. The
U.N. mission on Sunday denied po
lice accounts that three of the victims
died when they were run over by a
U.N. armored personnel carrier.
It was unclear what sparked the
mayhem. Religious violence is rare in
Liberia, a nation founded in the
1800s by freed American slaves,
where about 40 percent of the coun
try’s 3.3 million people are Christians
and 20 percent are Muslims.
A few churchgoers ventured out
for religious services Sunday morn
ing under a newly eased curfew that
allows Monrovia's citizens to leave
their homes from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Elsewhere, Muslims surrounded a
burned mosque, guarding it against
further attack.
Peacekeepers had placed a 24
hour curfew on the city after Fri
day’s violence.
Residents reported ex-fighters
roaming the streets with rifles and
machetes in Friday’s attacks, height
ening suspicions that many weapons
are still being held.
Liberia is struggling to recover
from fighting that began in 1989 and
claimed at least 150,000 lives. A
three-year war ended last year when
rebels shelled Monrovia, forcing Pres
ident Charles Taylor into exile in
Nigeria, and paved the way for an in
terim government with top rebel offi
cials in ministerial posts.
A 15,000-strong U.N. peace force
is now stationed in the country,
which is expected to hold elections
in October 2005.
Study: Oregon turning its back on homeless youth
Portland's Citizens Crime Commission aims to rescue
abandoned foster children through legislative reforms
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — A report to be is
sued in November says at least one
third of downtown Portland’s “street
kids” are current or former foster
care children who have been
dumped by the state, and says the
state is abdicating its responsibility.
The report by the Portland Citi
zens Crime Commission says the
abandoned children have no jobs or
stable homes and must fend for
themselves and may number about
2,000 in the Portland area. Many
r
gravitate toward downtown.
“We believe the state of Oregon is
abdicating its responsibility by not pro
viding needed services that would help
adolescents either currently or previ
ously involved in the foster care sys
tem transition to a more productive
and stable future,” a draft of the report
obtained by The Oregonian states.
“Youth are dumped on homeless
youth providers, thus transferring re
sponsibility from the Department of
Human Services to the homeless
youth system and Multnomah
County,” the report says.
Last year, more than 3,900 teens 13
years and older lived in foster care —
substitute, state-supervised care for
neglected, abused or abandoned kids.
In recent years the Outside Inn,
Janus Youth Programs and New Av
enues for Youth have tried to develop
a system that includes assessment
services, emergency shelter, educa
tion, job training and housing for
homeless youth.
But the agencies have grown
alarmed by the high numbers of help
seekers who are current or previous
wards of the state.
Commission Chairman James B.
Jeddeloh said his group would fight
for legislative reforms to prohibit
DHS from abandoning foster
children until they are ready for in
dependent living and wants the
state to pay for foster children who
wind up in Portland’s homeless
youth facilities.
Ramona Foley, Department of Hu
man Services assistant director for
Children, Adults and Families, said her
agency “owns some of the problem.”
“I regret that historically it has not
been clear to all our staff that we have
a responsibility to these youths,” Foley
said. “I’ve tried to get staff to realize
that we don’t have an option under the
law. Once they’re in our custody, we
have a commitment.”
Many on Portland’s streets are
fleeing foster homes or have reached
the age limit and have nowhere to go
Many have mental or substance
abuse problems and most have histo
ries of abuse and lack high-school ed
ucations or job training.
Another group showing up
at Portland’s homeless-youth agen
cies are foster children who grew up
in the system and recently turned
18, but are not prepared for life on
their own.
Homeless-youth workers say even
the most troubled youngsters can
succeed with appropriate support.
“People think, ‘To hell with those
kids — they’re lost, nobody is going to
be able to do anything with them,”’
said Kenneth Cowdery, executive di
rector of New Avenues for Youth.
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