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UN agency completes repatriation of Eritreans from the Sudan before rainy season

UN agency completes repatriation of Eritreans from the Sudan before rainy season

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today completed its fifth and last convoy repatriation of Eritreans from the Sudan for this season, after restarting a voluntary operation that had been suspended because of the rainy conditions.

UNHCR repatriated the last group of 240 refugees before the rainy season, expected to start this month. In the last two and a half weeks, the agency has helped more than 1,400 Eritreans to return to their country. Some of the refugees born in exile since the 1960s will see their homeland for the very first time.

The agency said it reached an agreement with the governments of Eritrea and the Sudan to open a humanitarian corridor and enable return convoys to pass, after the border had been closed following several months of tension.