ECHO funds refugee return

The European Commission is to provide the UN refugee agency UNHCR with US $1.78 million to assist with the repatriation of more than 13,000 Angolan refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The contribution by ECHO, the humanitarian assistance arm of the Commission, covers the registration of Angolan refugees in Bas Congo province wishing to return home, along with the delivery of mine awareness training prior to their departure, a UNHCR statement said. It will also provide blankets, plastic sheeting and soap, as well as basic tools and materials needed for the refugees to reconstruct their homes. Refugees heading home from Bas Congo are transported to M'banza Congo in Angola's northern Zaire province, where they are provided with their return package of humanitarian assistance items. They then board ECHO-financed trucks for the journey to their home community. "This announcement represents the latest in a string of contributions by ECHO to assist Angolan refugees returning home. Earlier this year, the agency provided UNHCR with more than US $1 million for various activities, including the construction of reception centres in Zaire and Uige provinces, rest facilities for refugees enroute from Zambia to Angola, a special HIV/AIDS awareness campaign for refugees prior to their departure for Angola and a survey to identify returning refugees requiring special assistance," the UNHCR statement said. The bulk of the 450,000 Angolans that fled the 27-year civil war crossed into neighbouring DRC and Zambia. In the largest repatriation programme in Africa, UNHCR hopes to complete the return of all refugees that want to go home by 2005.