UNHCR resumes repatriations

The voluntary repatriation of more than 160,000 Eritrean refugees, many of whom have been in exile since the 1960s, from Sudan was to resume toward the end of the week, a UNHCR spokesman said on 19 October. A 20-truck convoy carrying more than 200 refugees, was expected to leave on 20 October, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond. The returnees from the Shagarab camp, southwest of Kassala on Sudan's eastern border with Eritrea, would be transported to a transit centre in the western Eritrean town of Teseney, where they would be registered and provided with basic mine-awareness information, before being transported to their destination of choice, said Redmond. The repatriation exercise, which started in May, was suspended in July after heavy rains cut some of the roads to camps in eastern Sudan, said the spokesman. He said that by the time the exercise was suspended the UN agency had assisted about 21,000 refugees to return home.

According to the spokesman, so far roughly 15,000 refugees have signed up to be repatriated, including 1,900 in the Port Sudan area, where there are an estimated 4,000, who will be transported by sea. UNHCR expected to aid another 40,000 refugees before the end of the year to reach a target of 62,000 voluntary returns for the year, said Redmond. To assist the long-term returnees, who had no place to call home, "local authorities will give families up to two hectares of arable land to aid their reintegration", he said. Every family will also receive a cash grant, as well as a two-month food package, household supplies and agricultural implements. Redmond said the repatriation and reintegration exercise was planned to continue until December next year.