UNHCR closes two camps in W.Ethiopia following successful repatriation to S. Sudan
According to a statement posted on the organization's web site, UNHCR said the refugees were returned mainly to Blue Nile state and to a number of other states in South Sudan and about 2,000 refugees made their way home using their own means.
The two camps which opened in the early 1990s had a combined population of nearly 28,000 refugees and last week’s closures bring to three the number of camps which have been emptied in western Ethiopia since last year including Yarenja which was closed in March 2007.
Between mid-March and 5 May, a total of 4,523 of the more than 6,000 refugees were helped to return, mainly to the Upper Nile State in South Sudan, it said, adding that UNHCR has helped more than 30,000 Sudanese refugees to return home from Ethiopia since the launch of voluntary repatriation.
Overall, some 275,000 Sudanese refugees have returned to South Sudan since 2006 from various surrounding countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya and some 125,000 have returned with UNHCR assistance, it indicated.
Some 47,000 Sudanese refugees have returned home mainly with UNHCR assistance this year alone, the statement concluded.
