UN airlifts 77 Liberian, Sierra Leonean refugees

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- A special UN flight late Tuesday carried 72 Liberians and 5 Sierra Leoneans including 9 women and 4 children, all voluntary returnees, to Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The voluntary repatriation comes a week after the World Refugees Day.
The exercise was organised by the National Commission for Refugees (CONAREF) in conjunction with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
"These people were living in Burkina Faso and have returned to their countries thanks to the political stability now prevailing there," the CONAREF coordinator, Der Kogda, told PANA.
The exercise falls within the framework of mass repatriation of Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees living in other west African countries.
Kogda explained that given the progress of political situation in the two countries, the refugees who had been living for some time in Burkina Faso had asked to return home.
Kogda revealed that those returning would get US$100 each to help them settle in their respective countries.