UNHCR's Ogata visits Eritrean camps in Kassala state

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, who is visiting the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region, travelled to Kassala from Khartoum on Monday to visit the camps for Eritrean refugees from the latest fighting with Ethiopia.

A UNHCR spokesperson said she spent two hours at Gulsa and Lafa camps, talking to refugees and finding out about their conditions. "I will do my best to help those among you who want to return home. I will hope you will return to your country very soon," the Associated Press (AP) quoted her as telling a gathering of refugees.

She was later expected to meet local officials before returning to Khartoum later in the day. Sudanese television reported on Sunday that Ogata had called for more international assistance for the refugees during a meeting in Khartoum with External Relations Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il. She also told him that she would be discussing preparations for the repatriation of refugees with the Sudanese Refugee Commission. The UNHCR received a request on Friday to begin organising the epatriation of the more than 70,000 Eritreans who had registered as refugees in Sudan since the fighting started on 12 May. The agency said it could not organise repatriation until it was satisfied that conditions inside Eritrea permitted such a move. However, some refugees were beginning to make their way back across the border.