UNHCR steps up voluntary repatriation to Southern Sudan

from UNHCR via ReliefWeb

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 14 March 2008, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR has stepped up repatriation movements from countries bordering Southern Sudan. Since the beginning of the year, 15,700 organized returns of Sudanese refugees have taken place – three times more than for the same period last year. The weekly return rate has increased from 600 people at the beginning of the year to 3,000 at the beginning of March. This trend is expected to continue over the coming months, with up to 16 overland return corridors and air bridges set up by UNHCR and its partners for repatriation movements back to Southern Sudan.

Read on