According to a note from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to which the Lusa agency had access, the process is being conducted in partnership with the governments of Angola and DRCongo, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and partners Aid for Development from People to People (ADPP), Evangelical Church of the Brothers in Angola (IEIA), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and World Vision.
The first group of 88 refugees and dependents left the Lôvua settlement this Tuesday and is due to cross the border into DRCongo on Wednesday.
UNHCR informs that the first trip will be carried out through the Chicolondo border, with other groups expected to leave Angola through the Chissanda border.
"Then, refugees and family members will head towards the provinces of Kasai, Kasai Central, Kwilu, Sankuru, Lomami, Lualaba and Kinshasa", the note stresses.
In their areas of origin, the refugees will be received by UNHCR from DRCongo, together with the Congolese democratic authorities and partners, who are working to create conditions for their reintegration.
According to UNHCR, to date, around 10 percent of the population of the Lôvua settlement has shown the intention to return to DRCongo.
"With the resumption of voluntary repatriation, more refugees may show interest in returning. UNHCR is monitoring possible new intentions to return", the document highlights.
In total, the border province of Lunda Norte welcomes more than 9,800 refugees from the Kasai crisis, of which about 7,000 live in the Lôvua settlement, numbers that were part of an initial group of 35,000 people who, in 2017, arrived in the province, fleeing acts of violence in the Kasai area of DRCongo.
This crisis, underlines the UNHCR, led to the declaration of an emergency situation.
"In 2019, due to the improvement in the situation in DRCongo, more than 17,000 of these refugees returned to their country of origin spontaneously, with their own means. That same year, after an agreement between the governments of Angola, DRCongo and UNHCR, a voluntary return was organized, which led to the return of 2912 people, in an organized manner. However, in February 2020, the operation ended up being interrupted, firstly due to the poor condition of the roads and the bridge over the Kasai River and, more later, due to the covid-19 that led to the closure of the borders between the two countries", recalls in the statement.
