ReliefWeb

Uige, 06/20 - Over 13.000 Angolan citizens who had taken refuge in DR Congo returned to the northern province of Uige since last year, informed today to Angop the head of the provincial department of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Reintegration (Minars), Simao António.

According to the source, the ex-refugees came through Mbanza Congo (northern Zaire Province) and the border posts of Kimbata and Maquela do Zombo, so as to reach Uige Province.

From this number, said the source, 2.815 returned home through an officially organised process, whereas 10.344 returned to the country spontaneously.

The majority of the returnees have already been resettled in their areas of origin and have been getting some support from the World Food Programme (WFP), with the exception of those in the municipalities of Bembe and Ambuila, due to bad conditions of the access roads to those areas.

Simao Antonio also informed that they are currently checking the number of returnees sttled in the municipality of Songo.

He informed that the local department of Minars is waiting for the end of the suspension on the repatriation process of Angolan refugees in DRC, which was called last March, in the framework of the prevention measures against the spread of the Marburg virus, whose disease is hitting this province.