26/03/2014 10:23
Uganda prepares for safe repatriation of Congolese refugees
Three days after at least 108 passengers -- most of them Congolese refugees -- died when their overloaded boat capsized on Lake Albert, the Ugandan government wants to find a safe way to send the survivors home, CNN reported.
"To avoid more accidents due (to) violations of safety rules, we are stepping up efforts to ensure orderly repatriation of refugees wishing to return to their countries," said Hillary Onek, Uganda minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees.
Officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations refugee agency will meet April 14 to work out details for the refugees' return, he said.
At least 45 people were rescued.
Meanwhile, police were continuing Tuesday to scour the waters for more bodies, though there was little expectation that further survivors would be found.
Overloaded boats are a common cause of death on Lake Albert and across the lakes of the Albertine Rift region.
Ugandan police spokesman Patrick Onyango said Saturday that the refugees had left from the Kyangwali settlement camp in Hoima district. "They were leaving the camp to get back to their country, and it is the cheapest transport for them," he said.
Over the past decade, rebellions against the Joseph Kabila-led administration had led tens of thousands of people to flee to Uganda, where about half of the nearly 400,000 refugees are Congolese.
The capsizing occurred as the boat was returning to DRC after U.N. forces there had dislodged a number of rebel groups from Ituri, an interim province in northeastern DRC.