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UNHCR prepares for influx as hundreds flee Bukavu for Rwanda
2 Jun 2004 More than 2,000 Congolese have fled fighting in eastern DR Congo for neighbouring Rwanda. UNHCR has rushed relief supplies to the border area, and is working to expand a nearby transit centre should more refugees arrive. -
After the horrors, Rwandans learn to live together again
8 Apr 2004 In Rwanda, memories of the 1994 genocide are still fresh in everyone's minds. Nevertheless, Rwandan refugees are returning to their homeland to embrace the government's reconciliation efforts and to learn to co-exist with their neighbours. -
A decade after genocide, Rwandans return home to reconcile and rebuild
7 Apr 2004 Ten years after the genocide that saw an estimated 800,000 people killed by their countrymen and more than 2 million flee the country, the UN refugee agency is working with Rwanda and neighbouring countries to help refugees willing to return to rebuild their lives. -
Rwandans take stock 10 years after genocide
5 Apr 2004 The UN has declared April 7 as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. Ten years after the massacres that killed an estimated 800,000 Rwandans and sent millions more fleeing the country, the government in Kigali is trying to reconcile its people amid mixed feelings. -
Refugees lobby for identity in South Africa
1 Apr 2004 UNHCR and NGOs have joined refugees in South Africa to lobby for refugee identification that is non-discriminating and more widely-recognised. The government has agreed in principle to issue standard IDs to refugees, who will also get to test a pilot "smart card" system. -
Rwanda returns from Uganda cross 1,000
29 Mar 2004 Since the start of voluntary repatriation in January, some 1,100 Rwandan refugees have gone home from Uganda as the government in Kigali steps up efforts to welcome its refugees back. -
Congolese refugee reaches out to South Africa's underprivileged
22 Mar 2004 Mufumbe Mateso Felix, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has set up a non-governmental organisation to help women and children in Johannesburg's Tshepisong Township. Projects range from computer, catering and sewing classes, to a centre for AIDS orphans. -
First group of Rwandan refugees set to return from Uganda
16 Jan 2004 UNHCR is starting its voluntary repatriation operation from Uganda to Rwanda next week, kicking off what is expected to be one of the last major movements of Rwandan returnees in the region. -
Caregivers help sick refugees leave in dignity
8 Jan 2004 The UN refugee agency is co-funding a home-based care project for terminally-ill refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa, where many of them have no access to health care. The caregivers are themselves refugees who want to help their counterparts die in peace and dignity.