Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees from Angola to DR Congo Resumes

The voluntary repatriation of refugees from Angola to their homeland in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has resumed again, after the programme was put on hold in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic led to long-term border closures.

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The convoy of 88 Congolese refugees that left today is the first of six official convoys planned to departure by 24 August.

The JRS Angola team has been there providing hot meals, breakfast, and dry meals to the refugees waiting to return home. At least more than 700 hundred refugees mentioned their intentions to return to DRC.

JRS has been present in Lunda Norte, Angola from the first day of need, when the outbreak of violence in the Kasai region, Democratic Republic of Congo, displaced about 1,4 million people in 2017. Over 35,000 of them, more than 70% women and children, fled into Angolan territory, escaping or being victims of rape, mutilation, loss of relatives and other several kinds of torture.

In 2019, some of these refugees started to return through the voluntary repatriation programme.

MTO/Guardian