Eritrean refugees await repatriation agreement

Negotiations are continuing between UNHCR and the governments of Sudan and Eritrea for the voluntary repatriation of Eritrean refugees in Sudan, UNHCR said. There are currently 147,302 Eritrean refugees in UNHCR-supported camps and settlements in eastern Sudan, the vast majority of whom wish to return to their home country, UNHCR told IRIN. The refugee camps are also hosting 11,889 Ethiopians and 100 Somalis, while an estimated 195,331 Eritreans and 28,100 Ethiopians are living in urban areas of the country, according to UNHCR. UNHCR has assisted 72,327 Ethiopian refugees in Sudan to go home since 1993, while 24,449 Eritrean refugees were repatriated to Eritrea in a pilot project in 1994-5. Other refugee populations in Sudan currently include about 4,400 Chadians in the west and 334 Congolese in a camp in Juba, UNHCR said. Meanwhile, an OAU ministerial meeting on refugees and displaced persons is scheduled to be start in Khartoum this week. The meeting, from 10-15 December, aims to find durable solutions to the problem of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa, according to an OAU statement received by IRIN.