Refugees – 2007

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Refugees – 2007

2007

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

By mid-April 2007, it was reported that some 25,000 refugees returned home from five neighboring countries.1 To help facilitate repatriation of refugees, the UNHCR opened two new corridors from Ethiopia to Southern Sudan. It was estimated that, as of February 2007, there were some 328,000 refugees from Sudan in Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt.2 The UNHCR was quoted saying that approximately 50,000 refugees had returned from Ethiopia and Central African Republic voluntarily.3 After the initiation of the refugee repatriation programs in December 2005, the UN-backed refugee return to southern Sudan hit the 157,000 person mark.4 The cumulative result of the organized return of refugees for 2007 was 50,932.5 More than 40% of the estimated 418,000 refugees in neighboring countries had returned home voluntarily by the end of 2007.6

Funding for humanitarian assistance, as well as a fragile security situation, hindered repatriation programs.

  1. “Report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan,” United Nations (S/2007/213), April 17, 2007.
  2. “Sudan; Nearly 9,000 More People Have Returned to Southern Region This Year – UN Mission,” Africa News, March 27, 2007.
  3. “50,000 refugees returns to South Sudan,” Suna News Agency, April 12, 2007.
  4. “UN-backed Refugee Return to Southern Sudan Hits 157,000,” Xinhua General News Service, August 17, 2007.
  5. “Sudan IDP & Refugee Returns, Reintegration Operations Statistical Overview,” accessed October 26, 2011, http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpDocuments)/FEED5CE5022A706CC125753E003F3046/$file/Returns_RRR-Jan09.pdf.
  6. “Report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan,” United Nations (S/2008/64), January 31, 2008.