The United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday it is optimistic to reach the targeted number of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugees to be repatriated in 2008.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Assistant Information Officer Kelvin Shimoh told Xinhua that the resumption of conflicts in eastern DRC had initially interrupted the repatriation of the Congolese, but there has been a rise in the number of people registering to be repatriated.
"We have recorded a high number of refugees coming forward to register for repatriation in the last few days and this gives us hope that we will reach the targeted figure," he said in a telephone interview.
The voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees in Zambia, which started in May, 2007, had suffered a slowdown with tension being built up in eastern Congo's volatile North Kivu Province since August.
So far a total of 9,001 Congolese refugees have been sent home, far behind its target of 11,572 for repatriation in 2008.
The UNHCR said in a statement last week that the refugees were citing fear of the conflict spreading to other areas as the reason for not registering for voluntary repatriation.
But Shimoh said the situation is changing positively as the Congolese refugees show willingness to take advantage of the remaining weeks to be repatriated back to their country.
"Our survey has shown that the refugees know that we are closing the repatriation exercise by next month because of the rains," he said, "they know that if they miss this last chance, they will only be repatriated next year."
Tens of thousands of Congolese stays in neighboring countries as refugees after the 1998-2003 civil war. Currently, Zambia still hosts more than 45,000 Congolese refugees.
Source:Xinhua
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