Diallo's story is not unique. Like the estimated 400 thousand refugees living in the small West African nation of Guinea, Diallo fled the horrors of war in his own country only to end up living in another kind of hell. Refugees in Guinea, some of whom have been there for over ten years, live in squalid conditions and are common targets for harassment, robbery, rape and extortion. They cannot return home to their native countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia for fear of being killed in the ongoing civil wars, and their futures in Guinea look just as bleak.

Earlier this year the United Nations called the situation in Guinea, "the worst refugee crisis in the world." Although the Afghan refugee crisis now claims this title, Guinea retains its status as host to the largest number of refugees in Africa. Unfortunately, it is also one of the least known and least talked about refugee crises in the world.

"Please, tell the Americans about us. They are the only ones who can help," implores 81-year-old Musa Kabba, a Sierra Leonean currently living in a refugee camp in Southern Guinea, where he says conditions are extremely difficult, especially for children and the elderly.

"The place where I lie down I don't have a bed. There are too many mosquitoes. The toilet is overflowing." The gray-haired Kabba swats at a fly and shakes his head in disgust. "I am cold at night. I am an old man and I don't even have a blanket. There is never enough to eat."

Kabba is one of 20 thousand residents in Sembakounya, a refugee camp located in a remote, forested region of Guinea. Half-a-dozen camps like Sembakounya are scattered across Guinea and contain the majority of the refugees in that country. Although adequate shipments of humanitarian aid prevent starvation, the refugees living in the camps feel isolated and dehumanized. The nearest village to Sembakounya is a two-day walk, and there is little work to be had in the camp. Because of the bleak situation there and in other camps, some refugees choose to live in the capital Conakry instead, where they face a whole different set of adversities.

"People tell me I should stay in the camp," says 30-year-old Diallo, picking at a festering wound on his hand that he received the night of the attack, "but there is nothing for me to do there. At least here I can work and make a little money."

But while Diallo defends his choice to live in the capital, the attack in June has left scars far deeper than the one on his hand.

"It's terrible for refugees here. All the time I fear I will be killed. I just want to go some place I will be safe, somewhere my family will be safe," says Diallo.

Diallo's belief that he was signaled out because of his refugee status is echoed again and again in the stories told by other refugees. Last year, after a series of cross border attacks by rebels from Sierra Leone threatened to drag Guinea into the regional conflict, public sentiment toward refugees took a turn for the worse. In a widely broadcast radio address, Guinean President Lansana Conte blamed the refugees for luring the rebels across the border and called on Guinean citizens to expel them. Once hospitable locals suddenly turned against the refugees, looting and burning their homes. Women were raped and men were imprisoned and tortured.

Diallo recalls the day he was accused of being a rebel and taken to Foracariah prison.

"They packed us into a tiny cell," says Diallo staring at the wall, visibly shaken by the memories. "Everyday they took people from the prison and killed them. They would take us out and put us face up in the sun for hours. Many people died in there."

Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization that reports on human rights abuses around the world, has since called Foracariah prison, "one of the most notorious of Guinean detention centers."

Conditions at Foracariah prison have improved since abuses there were exposed in the international press, but refugees are still systematically detained without cause in jails across the country.

Ralston Deffenbaugh, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Baltimore-based non-profit organization that aids refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers having with arbitrary arrest and detention.

"It was pretty illustrative that the week before we were at Kountaya camp, four IRC (International Rescue Committee) employees were detained. If a worker for an international aid organization can be detained like that, imagine how it is for the average refugee," says Deffenbaugh.

So refugees in Guinea are faced with three, equally grim options: return home to a country still embroiled in conflict, languish in one of the remote refugee camps with no hope for a normal life, or face violence and harassment in Conakry while trying to eke out a small living.

"I have been thinking about going home. I'm old and I don't want to die in this place," says Kabba, who does not believe the war in his country will end anytime soon.

When asked if he has heard of US plans to curb the sale of so-called blood diamonds, which are blamed for fueling the war, he laughs.

"I don't believe it will work, because the honesty is not there. Sierra Leonean diamonds are the best, and people will still buy them," he says.

Diallo admits he has no idea when the war will end, but when it does, he has no plans to return home. He says the memories are too painful.

"I just want to go somewhere safe, wherever that is would be fine with me," he says. "Here, in Guinea, I feel afraid all the time. My wife is even worse. She doesn't want me to leave her side."

But what can be done to help the refugees in Guinea? That question has been plaguing people like Deffenbaugh, who believes the solutions for the two groups ­ Liberians and Sierra Leoneans ­ should be tackled separately.

"I think there is a big difference between the groups because of the situation in their own countries," says Deffenbough. "For the Sierra Leoneans, integration (in Guinea) is not a possibility, so return is the best option."

As for the Liberians, Deffenbough takes the opposite view.

"There is no reasonable prospect of repatriation to Liberia given thegƿharles Taylorb'Pe says, referring to the current Liberian president who has gotten rich exporting diamonds from rebel controlled areas of neighboring Sierra Leone. "Up until now there has been skepticism about resettlement for Liberians, but now it seems like a viable option."

Resettlement involves relocating refugees to a third country, such as the Unites States or Sweden. Last year the United States resettled around 700 refugees from Sierra Leone, a figure that critics say is far too low compared to the number of refugees the US accepted from European countries. Diallo has filed for resettlement twice, and says that he prays every night for his application to be approved so that he and his family can leave Guinea alive.

As for Kabba, he just hopes to see peace in his country before he dies.

"All we are asking for is peace," says Kabba. "But we need help making this peace. Ten years of war shows we cannot do it alone."