Voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from Tanzania complete

The voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from camps in northwestern Tanzania has been completed, with only about 150 remaining in the country, according to Ivana Unluova, the spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She told IRIN on Friday that the total number of refugees repatriated in 2002 had been 23,474, of whom almost 19,000 had gone home in November and December. Only around 100 refugees remained in the refugee camps in Tanzania at the beginning of 2003, and another 50 in various prisons in Kagera Region. The repatriation effort had ended on 27 December when about 3,200 refugees returned to Rwanda, Unluova said. They were taken to a reception centre in Nyakarambi, southeastern Rwanda, and later transported to their places of origin. The operation was thus completed before the deadline of 31 December, as agreed on 13 December at a tripartite meeting between the UNHCR and the governments of Rwanda and Tanzania. A further meeting to discuss the remaining caseload was due to be held at the end of January, Unluova added.