UNHCR calls for guarantees for refugees returning to DRC

Maurice Azonnankpo, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on 20 October asked the two Congos to guarantee the conditions necessary for the sustainable reintegration of Congolese refugees returning to the DRC. He cited security, access to basic social services, civil status documents, land and livelihoods, during a tripartite meeting in Kintélé, according to the Congolese News Agency (ACI).

The sixth meeting of the tripartite commission brings together the governments of the Republic of the Congo and the DRC, as well as UNHCR. It concerns the voluntary repatriation of DRC refugees living in the Congo. Azonnankpo stressed that national, provincial and local authorities had to prepare for and monitor returns, and that refugees had to be able to make a free and informed choice, ACI reports.

The UNHCR representative recalled that more than 120,000 Congolese refugees had voluntarily returned to the DRC over the past 16 years. The social affairs ministers of both countries also emphasised protection, security and preparation for resettlement. Congolese Minister of State Ève Bazaiba Masudi notably proposed expanding the scope of the tripartite agreement signed in Kinshasa on 10 June 2010, according to ACI.

The meeting comes after the DRC called for the implementation of the Washington and Doha commitments, amid conflict and population displacement (the DRC calls for the implementation of the Washington and Doha commitments).