Chadian repatriation from Central African Republic ends

UNHCR is completing a three-week repatriation operation for 1,368 Chadian refugees who have spent the past two decades in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR). Later today (Tuesday), 169 Chadian returnees who arrived in their homeland in the fourth and final convoy on Sunday, are expected to arrive in the capital of N'Djamena. The returnees to N'Djamena will be welcomed by UNHCR and the authorities before returning to their homes around the capital. Ten refugees will overnight in a former refugee facility in N'Djamena before travelling onwards to their homes in Abéché in eastern Chad on Wednesday. A team of 15 volunteers from the Chadian Red Cross will assist the urban returnees on arrival.

The last convoy of the repatriation, carrying 401 returnees, departed Boubou camp, in northern CAR, on Sunday and arrived on the same day in Amboko camp, near Goré, the main city in south Chad. The previous three convoys only included returnees who originated from the south, including Goré, Dembo and Moundou areas. The fourth and final convoy contained a mix of returnees from the capital and from eastern Chad, as well as returnees to the south. The Chadian returnees originally fled the country during the civil war in the early 1980s, and stayed on in CAR as they had integrated with the local population. However, ongoing attacks by unidentified armed groups in northern CAR over the past several months prompted them to return home to Chad with UNHCR's help. Some 10,000 CAR refugees have also fled to Chad.