Activist set to return home

ALOYSIUS TOE fled war ravaged Liberia two months ago, escaping prison as rebel shells rained down and then spending four days on the open ocean in a canoe.

The activist, whose wife and children remain in the west African country, returns next week to a life still full of danger but less so with the exit of Charles Taylor, the most recent of a succession of warlords who have seized power in the country and then been deposed.

Aloysius is ready to return to his job as head of the Liberian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders after some rest and recuperation in Ireland. He is a classic example of the type of person who will benefit from the introduction of short term visas for people at risk.