AFRICA/SUDAN - More than 10,000 Sudanese refugees in bordering countries repatriated. UNHCR calls the international community to fill the void between stages of assistance and development to make sure the once home repatriates can stay home

Monday, 10 July 2006

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Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - With the arrival at the beginning of last week of a convoy from Uganda, the number of refugees repatriated to southern Sudan with the assistance of the UN High Commission for Refugees overtook the 10,000 mark. The convoy which arrived on Tuesday was carrying 262 refugees from Moyo in northern Uganda most of whom had not seen their country for many years.
In the 1980s and 1990s hundreds of thousands of people fled Sudan to escape fighting between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the army of Khartoum. In December 2005, after a delay due to questions of security and logistics, UNHCR started repatriation operations of Sudanese refugees and since then the rate of repatriation has been stable. This last convoy brought to 10,113 the number of repatriates assisted by UNHCR.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has called on international community aid agencies to intensify their activity to fill the void between stages of assistance and development so that once they return home repatriates may remain there.
On arrival the repatriates spend a few days at a transit centre while UNHCR personnel arranges transport on UNHCR trucks to the final destination, their villages of origin near the cities of Yei, Maridi, Yambio and Juba. At the transit centre refugees are given information on health risks, danger of anti-personnel mines and a course on prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Since March this year this is the 7th UNHCR repatriation convoy from Uganda to Sudan, after the Agency, Uganda and Sudan signed a three party voluntary repatriation agreement also from other asylum countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Democratic Congo and the Central African Republic. In camps in bordering countries there are still about 340,000 Sudanese refugees. Repatriation operations started following the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005 between the SPLA and the government of Sudan. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/7/2006 righe 34 parole 410)