FEATURE: UN helps hundreds of Congolese refugees in CAR to return home

About 474 refugees have left Mole camp to head to Zongo in South Ubangi province in northern DRC in two convoys of 20 vehicles, including six trucks and three buses, since last week.

CAPE TOWN, November 17 (ANA) – Hundreds of refugees have left the Central African Republic (CAR) to return home to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the assistance of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The agency said about 474 refugees had left Mole camp to head to Zongo in South Ubangi province in northern DRC in two convoys of 20 vehicles, including six trucks and three buses, since last week. This was the first such move since the Covid-19 pandemic forced border closures.

The voluntary repatriation operation of the refugees from CAR began in November last year but was put on hold in March after the two countries closed their borders in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Now the border closure has been lifted to facilitate the voluntary returns, UNHCR said.

“The coronavirus pandemic had halted refugees’ dreams to return home, like many other human aspirations,” said UNHCR deputy representative in DRC Pierre Atchom.

“This resumption of refugee returns marks another chapter in the lives of many refugees. They can go home, embracing their country, putting behind their life in exile.’’

UNHCR last month said CAR welcomed thousands of refugees who had fled attacks by armed groups in DRC.

When thousands of refugees fled in canoes across a river into the CAR earlier this year, they arrived in a tiny village whose residents had little to give, yet the villagers opened their hearts and their homes to the desperate newcomers.

A single mother from Toko Kota village, who welcomed 10 women and children into her home, said she could not bear seeing children and their mothers sleeping rough, even less so during the rainy season.

“We are all hungry. Finding something to eat is a real problem here and we drink water from the river. We don’t have much, but we are always hospitable,” she said at the time.

The Congolese refugees had fled an attack on the town of Buda, in Congo’s North Ubangi province, in late May, for Toko Kota, a village on the Ubangui River in southern CAR. Half were children and a further 30% were women.

They were victims of conflict in a region that has gained little international attention, according to the UNHCR.

CAR hosts thousands of refugees, half of whom fled DRC. The country has around 641,000 internally displaced people, while another 619,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Now, with gradual improvements to the security situation in areas in Bangui and in the regions of Lobaye and Ombella M’poko of CAR, more than 15,000 refugees in North and South Ubangi provinces have so far signed up for voluntary repatriation, according to the UN agency.

Voluntary repatriation, when conditions allow, remains the preferred solution for many forced to flee their homes. UNHCR said it plans to assist some 4,000 people by the end of 2020, bringing the total to 7,000 since July 2019.

To limit the risk of contagion during the return operation, UNHCR and its partners have strengthened regular health and sanitisation measures. These include the provision of masks and temperature screening as well as the installation of additional hand-washing stations.

The number of refugees per convoy has been reduced to 65 individuals to allow for distancing, UNHCR said, further calling for additional financial support to continue the voluntary returns programme.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher