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The voluntary return of Congolese refugees from Angola had been interrupted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Eighty-eight refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) left the Lôvua camp on Tuesday morning, in northern Angola, towards the border. This first repatriation convoy is the first organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 2020. According to the UN body, the convoy should arrive tomorrow on Congolese soil. According to the UNHCR, more than 600 Congolese refugees have already expressed their wish to be repatriated. Others are likely to show interest as the operation resumes. “Most refugees are asking for nothing more than to return home,” UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov said in a note sent to APA on Tuesday. He urged the international community to “address the causes of conflict and help make the return of people safer and easier”. The voluntary repatriation is being organized by UNHCR, together with the governments of Angola and the DRC, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and various partners. The refugees traveled in IOM trucks towards the Chicolondo border, where they will spend the night in a transit center before crossing the Congolese border. More convoys are planned to cross the Chissanda border in the coming weeks. The refugees will head to various destinations in western DRC, including Kasai, Kasai Central, Kwilu, Sankuru, Lomami, Lualaba and Kinshasa, the capital. “Although conflict continues in eastern DRC, improved security in the west has reopened the possibility for Congolese to return to their country in dignity and safety,” added Boris. Cheshirkov. Upon arrival in the DRC, Congolese returnees will receive cash assistance to cover basic needs such as household items and initial assistance with their rent. Additional support will also be provided for their reintegration, for example by helping children enroll in school. More than 35,000 people crossed the border to find safety in Angola due to political and ethnic violence in the Kasai region in 2017. Most of them were hosted in the Lôvua camp, in the Lunda region. North. According to the UNHCR, many refugees have spontaneously returned to the DRC in recent years. “Today, Lôvua hosts around 7,000 refugees,” the UNHCR spokesman said. More globally, nearly 430,000 refugees were able to return home in safety and dignity last year. UNHCR says this is a 70% increase from 2020. Almost two-thirds of refugee returns have been to South Sudan. However, this figure represents only 2% of refugees worldwide.

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