Transitional council appeals for faster integration of former exiles

The speaker of the National Transitional Council, Central African Republic's law-making body, has asked the government to speed up the reintegration of former soldiers and civil servants who recently returned from exile. In a live broadcast on state-controlled Radio Centrafrique on Thursday, the council's Speaker, Nicolas Tiangaye, said former exiles needed to regain their social and professional stability after over two years in exile. "To achieve this, I call for more sacrifice so that the cases of the civilians and soldiers concerned be dealt with quickly," he said, closing the council's first ordinary session that lasted 45 days. Soon after seizing power on 15 March, Francois Bozize granted amnesty to 800 people convicted by the previous administration of supporting one-time President Andre Kolingba in his coup attempt of 28 May. The clemency encouraged thousands of exiles, mostly from Kolingba's Yakoma ethnic group, to return home mostly from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo. In June, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees repatriated at least 2,000 CAR refugees from northern DRC. At least 1,000 former soldiers also returned home. So far, these former soldiers have not received any aid. However, the UN World Food Programme has announced that it would distribute a three-month ration to the former refugees.