Number of Sudanese returnees from Uganda in 2009 tops 20,000 – UN

Nyatet Mokol, the 20,000th Sudanese refugee to return home from Uganda, on the bus that took her there

23 April 2009 – The number of Sudanese refugees returning home from Uganda this year with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) topped the 20,000 mark today.

This brings the total number of people helped home by UNHCR since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended Sudan’s long-running north-south civil war, to nearly 150,000, including 85,000 from Uganda. An additional 160,000 others have repatriated on their own from neighbouring countries.

“We are very pleased to see the steady increase in the number of Sudanese returning to their country,” said Stefano Severe, UNHCR Representative in Sudan, adding that the agency looks forward to helping many more repatriate.

Last year saw the return of 42,000 Sudanese refugees from Uganda, compared to just 17,000 in 2007. Thousands more of the 50,000 Sudanese still in Uganda are expected to return before the end of the year.