The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) resumed the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees in Ethiopia on 10 April, a UNHCR statement said. A convoy carrying the first 1,500 returnees from the Camaboker refugee camp, in southeastern Ethiopia, was seen off by the visiting High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers.

UNHCR said the refugees had volunteered to be repatriated to northwestern Somalia - now the self-declared state of Somaliland. They are part of 60,000 Somali refugees that UNHCR plans to repatriate by the end of the year. Last year UNHCR repatriated 43,467 refugees to northwestern Somalia, bringing the number of Somali returnees since 1997 to 125,572, said the statement.

UNHCR also plans to assist 10,000 Ethiopian returnees, who were living among the Somali refugees, to resettle in their areas of origin. The refugee agency has already assisted 8,026 Ethiopians who had earlier fled from Somalia to return to their places of origin.