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DRC refugees return home
06/05/2008 19:09 - (SA)
Lusaka - The United Nations' refugee agency and Zambian officials have resumed repatriation of Congolese refugees after suspending the effort due to a lack of funds last year, the agency said on Tuesday.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says over 64 000 Congolese fled to Zambia during a 1998-2003 civil war and some 55 000 remain in the country.
UNHCR said in a statement that 19 336 of the refugees would be sent back to the Democratic Republic of Congo this year under a drive that was re-launched on Monday.
"The returnees will spend the first few days back in DRC in a reception centre where they will receive (land) mine awareness training, HIV/Aids information and any necessary medical assistance," it said.
The returning refugees will be provided with basics including building materials, food, seeds and fertilisers to help them start new lives, it said.
UNHCR suspended the repatriation in 2007 due to a funding shortfall and heavy rains which made many roads impassable.
Years of fighting between Congo's army, local ethnic militias and troops from neighbouring states has sent waves of refugees fleeing across most of the vast nation's land borders, straining the resources of nearby countries.
A 2003 peace deal to end the latest five-year war in the mineral-rich nation led to the first democratic elections in more than four decades. Security has improved in some parts of the country despite continuing militia violence in many eastern areas.
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