MINNEAPOLIS – (February 23, 2010) – International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announces the release of an update to a major report first published in 2007 on the status of Liberians in the United States. "Liberia Is Not Ready 2010: A Report of Country Conditions in Liberia and Reasons the United States Should Extend Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians” reviews current conditions in the African country and makes a compelling case for why forcing displaced Liberians to return at this time is ill-advised.
Dorsey has partnered with The Advocates for Human Rights since 2007 to produce the original report and subsequent updates, and a team of Dorsey attorneys has spent hundreds of hours on a pro bono basis to research conditions in Liberia and examine the legal status of Liberians currently living in the U.S.
After civil war erupted in Liberia in 1989, thousands of Liberians fled to the U.S. and an estimated 3,500 have enrolled in the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program, which allowed them to temporarily remain in the U.S. The report outlines reasons why the U.S. government should again extend DED, which is set to expire on March 31, 2010. Forcing those in the DED program to return to Liberia, the report argues, would endanger their lives and further compromise the country's already dysfunctional economy, infrastructure and social services.
Though the civil war ended in 2003, Liberia remains devastated. The majority of the population still lives without clean drinking water, access to health care, or electricity. Life expectancy is 42 years, unemployment hovers near 85%, and the infant mortality rate is more than 20 times that of the U.S.
To read the full report, click here.