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West Africa's civil rights For more than a decade, the West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone have been roiled by civil conflicts that have caused millions to flee their homes and left up to 200,000 dead. Even as the fighting has systematically destroyed the two countries' economies, infrastructures, and social institutions, the interlinked conflicts have spilled across borders, drawing in neighboring Guinea and raising tensions in Cote d'Ivoire. Today, Sierra Leone is emerging from …

…Liberia, but remained there only a month before rebels moved in on the town in January 2002. Government troops fired at civilians as they fled. Fighting forced Feimata to flee twice more: from nearby Klay Junction, and from Sinje refugee camp. Feimata reached the safety of Sierra Leone in late February, but only after a stranger along the road loaned her the equivalent of $10 to pay Liberian government troops, who blocked her path across the border.