A third and fourth group of 119 Congolese refugees was airlifted
yesterday out of the northern Mozambican town of Nampula as part of
a joint IOM-UNHCR effort to provide voluntary repatriation
assistance to a group of some 3,500 Congolese refugees who have
lived in Maratane camp for the past six years.

IOM transported the refugees by air from Nampula to Kigoma, in
western Tanzania, where they boarded a UNHCR chartered steamer for
an eight-hour journey across Lake Tanganyika to the port of Baraka,
in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC).           

To date, 231 Congolese refugees have been assisted by IOM and
its partners to return to their homes in and around Uvira and Fizi,
in Congo’s South Kivu region.   

“The flights were met with great happiness and relief by
the refugees,” says IOM’s Jerotich Seii Houlding who
coordinates the airlift out of Nampula. “It is now clear that
many more refugees are eager to return to their homes as latest
reports indicate a surge of registration for repatriation in
Maratane camp.”

IOM and UNHCR offices in Mozambique have signed a six-month
letter of understanding to respond to the growing number of
Congolese refugees who wish to return home. 

Depending on final registration numbers, IOM will issue an
appeal for some USD 2.5 million to continue this operation in close
partnership with the UNHCR and the governments of Mozambique,
Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Wynn

IOM Pretoria

Tel. +27 12 342 27 89

E-mail: "mailto:rwynn@iom.int">rwynn@iom.int