More than 770,000 Central African refugees return home
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Journal du Tchad
More than 770,000 Central African refugees have returned to their country, and 12% of spontaneous returns to the Central African Republic came from Chad, according to Central African minister Josiane Lina Bemaka-Soui. The Central African government says more than 100,000 refugees who had returned from neighbouring countries have gone back since 2017, amid increased pressure on the authorities and UNHCR.
More than 770,000 Central African refugees returned to the Central African Republic in 2026, 12% of whom are said to have come from Chad, Central African Humanitarian Action, Solidarity and National Reconciliation Minister Josiane Lina Bemaka-Soui said on 4 November. She was speaking in N’Djamena at the close of a meeting on the voluntary return of refugees, the Journal du Tchad reports.
Since 2017, more than 100,000 Central African refugees living in neighbouring countries have returned to the Central African Republic, either in organised convoys or by their own means, according to the Central African government. Surveys conducted in Chad between 2023 and 2025 also identified more than 60,000 people wishing to return to their country.
The N’Djamena meeting brought together representatives from the Central African Republic, Chad and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. It aims to oversee the voluntary return of Central Africans still in Chad.
The statement came after the announcement that about 61,000 refugees and asylum seekers were being hosted in the Central African Republic, published on 6 October.
