Dundo - At least Eighty-eight refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who had been staying since 2017 in the settlement of Lóvua, Lunda Norte province, arrived today, Wednesday, in their country of origin.
The return of this group, falls under the organised voluntary repatriation programme, resumed Monday, after its suspension in 2020, due to Covid-19.
According to a note from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they were repatriated through the Tchicolondo border, in transport provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and settled in the provinces of Kasai Central, Lomami, Sankuru and Lualaba.
The programme continues next Tuesday through the Chissanda border post.
Currently the settlement of Lóvua controls 6,912 refugees , of whom about 10% have expressed their intention to return to the DRC.
In May 2017 an initial group of 35,000 DRC citizens arrived in Lunda Norte province, fleeing acts of violence in the Kasai area, a crisis that led to the declaration of an emergency situation.
