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Refugees return to Kenema

    ABIDJAN

    An estimated 2,500 refugees returned to eastern Sierra Leone between January and March and were registered by the UNHCR's office in Kenema, the refugee agency said on Tuesday.

    The majority of the returnees entered the country from Liberia through the Mano River/Zimmi highway but moved up to Kenema to join their relatives. A total of 1,785 returnees were registered in the southern district of Pujehun in January.

    As part of preparations for its repatriation and reintegration of Sierra Leone refugees, UNHCR officials travelled by road in March to northern Kambia District on an assessment visit. There were no security incidents during the trip, UNHCR said.

    There are some 485,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in neighbouring countries mainly in Guinea (370,000), Liberia (98,000), Gambia (12,000) and elsewhere in the region, UNHCR reported.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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