UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The U.N. refugee agency opened a new route home for some 6,500 Angolans trying to repatriate after fleeing nearly 30 years of civil war.
This week, the first convoy of 211 Angolan refugees made the trip from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said Thursday. The convoy, which arrived Wednesday, is part of a larger voluntary repatriation program that has helped return nearly 200,000 Angolans to their homeland.
"Now that the war is over, and -- most importantly -- that elections are expected in 2006, repatriation is another symbol of the conclusion of the war and of a new era of peace," Annette Nyekan, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees deputy representative in Angola, said.
Throughout the area, bridges have had to be rebuilt and roads have had to be cleared of mines following a 27-year civil war that ended with the 2002 signing of a peace agreement between the Angolan government and rebels. Since then, some 333,000 Angolan refugees have repatriated.
The UNHCR said its next focus will be on re-integrating refugees into Angola, since most of them are from the most isolated and damaged parts of the country.
