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South Kivu returns to start October 15
12 Sep 2005 UNHCR and the Congolese and Tanzanian governments have agreed to facilitate refugee returns from Tanzania's camps to eastern DRC's South Kivu region starting next month. UNHCR has stressed that returns must be voluntary, gradual and only to safe areas. -
Transit site closes in Rwanda as last Burundians leave
9 Sep 2005 A year after it received the first of hundreds of refugees from Burundi, Gikonko transit site in southern Rwanda has closed as the refugees either opt to return home with UNHCR assistance or to move to a nearby camp. -
Rwandan women lead the way home from Brazzaville
25 Aug 2005 Rwandan refugees Faustine and Immaculée recently joined a group on a go-and-see visit to Rwanda, and returned to their host country, the Republic of the Congo, to share their observations on how life has improved back home. They plan to be on the next airlift back to Rwanda. -
Casting the net wide to help Burundi's returnee communities
22 Aug 2005 In an innovative project to help Burundian returnees reintegrate, UNHCR is providing seed capital to fishing communities on Lake Tanganyika, allowing them to improve their livelihood and diet. Once repaid, the money will be reinvested into other projects to help the returnees and their neighbours. -
New agreement paves way home for Burundians from Rwanda
19 Aug 2005 Thousands of Burundian refugees could be on their way home under a tripartite agreement on voluntary repatriation from Rwanda signed between the two governments and the UN refugee agency yesterday. -
Sharp rise in returns to Burundi, says UNHCR
12 Aug 2005 The UN refugee agency expects to see a six-fold increase in the number of Burundian refugees going home to the south this month compared to previous months. Returnees say they are confident following June's communal elections - virtually the last step in a long transition to full peace and democracy. -
Rwandan refugees come out of the woods in Kivu region
4 Aug 2005 Through 20 assembly points in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNHCR has been repatriating a monthly average of 800 Rwandan refugees who had been hiding for over a decade in the dense forests of the Kivus. -
South Kivu sees high tide of Congolese returnees
22 Jul 2005 UNHCR has reported a sharp rise in the number of refugees returning on their own to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after spending days on the road or travelling on rickety boats from Tanzania. They say they're back to enrol their children in school, rebuild their homes and vote in the elections. -
UNHCR urges Burundi to stop involuntary returns
14 Jun 2005 Some 5,000 Rwandan asylum seekers have been taken home from Burundi in what UNHCR considers involuntary returns that violate the principle of non-refoulement. The refugee agency is concerned that 2,000 Rwandans still in Burundi and 7,000 Burundians in Rwanda could be sent home shortly.