UN agency repatriates 1,108 refugees

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repatriated 1,108 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the neighbouring Republic of the Congo since Monday, an official of the Central African Republic told IRIN on Wednesday. A reporter of a national committee in charge of receiving the returnees, Jean-Claude Beleka, said the UN agency began the repatriation of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday. The repatriation of those in the Republic of the Congo (ROC) began on Tuesday, when the first 52 refugees were flown to Bangui, the CAR capital. The first 200 of some 3,500 Central African Republic refugees who had been living in the DRC since June 2001 arrived on Monday. About 2,000 had been living in Brazzaville, the ROC capital, and in the northern towns of Impfondo and Betou. The UNHCR protection officer in the CAR, Mamadou Diane, told IRIN on Wednesday that it was easier to charter an aircraft to fly the refugees from the neighbouring ROC than to transport them by road or river. Since former army chief of staff Francois Bozize ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse on 15 March, many CAR exiles have returned home spontaneously and many others have demanded repatriation. Meanwhile, a UN-NGO humanitarian coordination team is on Thursday due to send a security assessment mission to two towns in the north and the east. The region was affected by months of fighting between government and rebels troops. Fighting ended with Bozize's coup. The government has started to improve security in northern and eastern towns to encourage the return of thousands of displaced people and the beginning of humanitarian aid.