UN refugee agency repatriates 269 from northern ROC

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has started the repatriation of about 1,700 Central African Republic refugees from the northern Republic of Congo town of Betou, where they have been since June 2001, an official of the agency told IRIN on Wednesday. The official, Emile Segbor, said 269 returnees were "expected today" in Moungoumba, 189 km south of the CAR capital, Bangui. Segbor, who is the UNHCR representative in the country, said in Bangui that the agency had sent five trucks to Moungoumba. He said the operation to transport the returnees would last until Monday. Mostly of the Yakoma ethnic group to which former President Andre Kolingba belongs, the returnees had sought refuge in the ROC in June 2001, after Kolingba’s unsuccessful bid in May 2001 to oust President Ange-Felix Patasse. The current head of state, Francois Bozize, overthrew Patasse on 15 March 2003, after a six-month rebellion. On 23 April, Bozize granted a general amnesty to all the 800 convicts, 600 of whom were in exile, of the May 2001 coup trial. As a result, at least 2,000 civilian refugees and 274 military personnel returned from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. About 300 CAR refugees in the ROC capital, Brazzaville, have been returning home aboard chartered aircraft. The ROC is reported to host about 2,000 CAR refugees, mostly in the northern towns of Betou and Impfondo. Many other refugees returned home spontaneously soon after Bozize’s victory.