accusing the MPCI rebels of being “foreign terrorists” and using English-speaking mercenaries, hostility to any foreigners was clearly on the rise. As early as October 2002, there were reports that refugees in transit sites in Abidjan were receiving disturbing visits from police and other armed men who threatened the refugees at night, during the curfew hours.120 Days after the beginning of the conflict in the west, rumors of the involvement of English-speaking Liberian fighters were circulating, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began warning that the Liberian refugee population in Côte d’Ivoire was vulnerable to abuses.121 MPIGO advanced on Toulepleu on November 30 and captured the town on December 2. As they continued to advance, capturing Blolékin on December 7, many feared that Guiglo, only 60 km east of Blolékin, would be the next target. Residents of Guiglo evacuated the town, including most of the humanitarian agency staff working in the Nicla refugee camp, about 12 kilometers from Guiglo. The first reports of Ivorian government recruitment in the refugee camp date to this period and attribute responsibility for the recruitment to the FANCIs in collaboration with local refugee contacts in Nicla.122 A Liberian refugee who was in the camp in this period said that on December 3, “the Ivorian soldiers came and started to beat all the people. They said that Liberians are guilty of supporting the rebels.”123 As fighting intensified in December and January 2003, and the role of Liberian combatants on both sides increased, so too did the recruitment of the refugees. The UNHCR’s calls for relocation and protection of the refugees became desperate, but went unanswered by the government. As early as mid-December, a report from Guiglo in a local newspaper provided a revealing description of the situation. The headline was “Six rebels killed, Liberian refugees reinforce FANCIs,” and the article described how the Liberian refugees volunteered at Guiglo as part of a strategy to “fight fire with fire.”124 While some refugees did volunteer out of boredom or were tempted by the thousands of CFA promised to recruits, others appear to have felt forced to join due to the increasing physical threats to their security. By lateDecember the vast majority of the Liberian refugee population faced not only the generalized hostility of indigenous Ivorian communities towards any foreigners, but also specific antagonism as Liberians, given that they were blamed for the proxy war being fought by Liberian forces in western Côte d’Ivoire. Refugees in Abidjan and in the southwest around Tabou faced increasing threats as the rebel groups launched a new offensive towards San Pedro from Liberia, attacking Grabo in January 2003. In the absence of protection from the government in Côte d’Ivoire and offers for resettlement to another country, many refugees were forced to choose between two untenable options: return to Liberia or survival in an increasingly violent environment. In a measure reflective of their desperation, thousands of refugees did return to Liberia in February 2003, despite having to pass through hostile checkpoints manned by Ivorian militias.125 Many of these returnees then became trapped in Liberia’s spiraling insecurity, prompting some to later return to hostile areas they had fled.126 Other refugees sought refuge in the UNHCR offices in the south and demonstrated at its office in Abidjan, calling for evacuation, a highly reasonable request given the persecution they faced in Côte d’Ivoire. Despite UNHCR’s pleas, no offers of resettlement were forthcoming from either regional or western states, a serious failure for refugee protection. The dilemma was summed up by one Liberian refugee who fled the west and succeeded in reaching Guinea, “[w]hat I don’t understand is why HCR didn’t help us, if they’re only there to feed us, what 120 Confidential report on file with Human Rights Watch. 121 UNHCR Briefing Notes, December 17, 2002 at www.reliefweb.int (accessed May 20, 2003). 122 Confidential report on file with Human Rights Watch. 123 Interviewed in Guinea, January 2003, on file with Human Rights Watch. 124 Edouard Gonto, “Six rebelles tués, Des refugiés libériens en renfort aux FANCI,” Soir Info, December 16, 2003, p.2. 125UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,”Situation in Côte d'Ivoire to deteriorate further if peace proves elusive,” February 12, 2003, at www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/ (accessed May 20, 2003). 126 “15,000 réfugiés libériens ont fui en Côte d'Ivoire,” Agence France Presse, May 23, 2003. Human Rights Watch 34 August 2003, Vol. 15, No. 14 (A)