This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR
at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Quoted text
from this briefing note may be attributed to the UNHCR spokesperson named
below left
Kris Janowski
Timor
The largest group of demobilised East Timorese soldiers to repatriate to
East Timor has been going home safely since the weekend, nearly a month
after they left camps in the Kupang area controlled by pro-Indonesian elements.
UNHCR hopes that the return without any incident of around 60 former members
of the Indonesian Army, or TNI, along with their families - totalling around
500 - would give momentum to the repatriation movement.
All but two ex-TNIs who went to the Dili area are from Aileu - a cantonment site for Falentil, or Armed Forces for the Liberation of East Timor.
Former TNIs have been returning individually or in small groups, but this group of 60 is the biggest so far. Their return to Aileu came after U.N. agencies, including CIVPOL and UNTAET, agreed on security arrangements with the Falentil and CNRT, the umbrella organisation for East Timorese political groups, over the weekend.
On Saturday, 35 ex-TNI families went back, followed by 149 yesterday. Today, 229 families of the ex-TNIs are returning to Aileu and the rest will be going back there on Thursday.
Congo
UNHCR will close its transit centre this
week in Luozi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after more than 52,000
Congolese who fled the civil war in neighbouring Congo Republic returned
to Brazzaville during the past 9 months.
Last Saturday, a convoy took 378 refugees from Luozi to a transit camp
at Kimaza, emptying the transit centre which once held tens of thousands
of people.
Two years ago UNHCR rushed staff to Luozi, 250 km south-west of Kinshasa on the northern side of the river Congo, when fighting in and around Brazzaville trapped tens of thousands of Congolese in the "Pool Region" - an area located between the city Brazzaville and the border with DRC.
Many eventually made their way to the DRC in search of security and aid. Thousands of local inhabitants, dependent on cross border trade, also moved to the site as health conditions in surrounding villages deteriorated rapidly.
UNHCR began helping Congolese return home in June 1999. The return accelerated in December of last year, after a peace agreement was signed between the Congo's warring factions.
This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is not an official UN document.