VARIOUS: MORE THAN 3,000 REFUGEES RETURN TO ERITREA IN FIRST PLANNED VOLUNTARY REPARTRIATION OF UP TO 174,000 PEOPLE FROM SOUTHERN SUDAN

Record ID: 275288

  • Title: VARIOUS: MORE THAN 3,000 REFUGEES RETURN TO ERITREA IN FIRST PLANNED VOLUNTARY REPARTRIATION OF UP TO 174,000 PEOPLE FROM SOUTHERN SUDAN
  • Date: 18th May 2001
  • Summary: LUFA REFUGEE CAMP, SUDAN (RECENT - MAY 12, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV: ERITREAN RETURNEES WAITING TO BOARD TRUCKS DESTINED FOR ERITREA 0.03 2. SV: REFUGEES BEING REGISTERED BY UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSION FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) OFFICIALS 0.07 3. SV: REFUGEES BOARDING TRUCK 0.20 4. SCU: REFUGEES BEING ASKED TO BOARD TRUCK
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAIROBI, KENYA/ LUFA REFUGEE CAMP, SUDAN/TALATASHA, ERITREA AND SUDAN BORDER CROSSING/TESSENEY, ERITREA BORDER
  • City:
  • Country: Eritrea Sudan Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVADQOCSXQ5I311L5NUYL2UDOTYA
  • Story Text: More that 3,000 refugees have returned to Eritrea in a
    planned voluntary repatriation of up to 174,000 people from
    Southern Sudan.


    Many of the Eritreans had never set foot on their parental
    soil before.

    They were born in exile after their parents fled successive
    wars and famines.

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
    estimates that the vast majority of the 174,000 refugees
    registered in Sudan will choose to return to Eritrea, and
    hopes to have finished the repatriation by the end of 2002.

    Successive waves of refugees fled Eritrea to its much
    larger neighbour Sudan, initially to escape hostilities at the
    start of a 30-year guerrilla war that led to Eritrea's
    independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

    Subsequent exoduses have followed repeated droughts and
    heavy fighting during a border war between Ethiopia and
    Eritrea from May 1998 to June 2000.

    The initial convoy of 932 refugees boarded trucks and
    buses at a repatriation centre in Lufa refugee camp in Sudan
    and were driven to the Eritrean town of Tesseney near the
    Sudanese border.

    The desire to return home is strong amongst the displaced
    and the obstacles of war and famine put a stop to earlier
    attempts to return home but as the political and environmental
    conditions stabilised so did the possibilities to return.

    The UNHCR, Sudan, and Eritrea took the first steps
    towards re-starting the repatriation by signing a tripartite
    agreement in Geneva on April 7, 2000.

    The accord recognized the right of individuals to go home
    to areas of their choice, as well as the strictly voluntary
    nature of the return. It also included provisions for UNHCR to
    monitor the returns and the reintegration process.

    For many of these people who have been away for decades,
    the transition will not be easy. The UNHCR has said that they
    will provide long term assistance to help ease the process.

    Refugees will have a three-month food ration before they
    leave Sudan, and after that they will be eligible for more
    food assistance. Families will also receive a cash grant of up
    to 200 U.S.dollars. They get a shelter structure of steel and
    canvas, which should last several years, hand tools, water
    barrels, cooking equipment, blankets. Paul Stromberg, UNHCR
    spokesman said that he hoped that he could help them to become
    productive Eritrean citizens again.



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