Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Saturday appealed to donor countries to commit additional resources to augment the agency's budget for Africa, which has massively shrunken. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has disclosed plans to build more resettlement camps in northern Kenya to cater for the increasing number of refugees flocking into the country. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers met Friday with President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala as part of his four-day visit to Uganda. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has begun a vigorous campaign to teach Angolan refugees skills in detecting and identifying anti-personnel mines, including landmines, ahead of their return home. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- Some 7,000 Liberian refugees last week broke through a roadblock on the border with Guinea, an official at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told PANA here Wednesday. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Authorities in Kampala have invited UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, to visit refugees in Uganda 10-13 April, UNHCR spokeswoman Bushra Malik said Monday in a press statement here. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- A new wave of Liberian refugees recently arrived in the southern Guinean town of Yomou near the Liberian border, Radio Guinea International (RGI) reported on Thursday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLAM) Tuesday urged French, Senegalese, Malian and Mauritanian authorities as well as the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to facilitate the return of Mauritanians forced into exile during 1989 upheavals following a border conflict with Senegal. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- The latest batch of Sierra Leonean refugees who have been living in Guinea for over a decade returned home at the weekend, the Refugees National Co-ordination Office (BNCR) of the Guinean Territorial Administration Ministry said on Tuesday. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- At least 14,000 Liberian refugees, mostly elderly people and children, crossed into southern Guinea last Sunday, an official source said here Tuesday. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- Only 3,517 of the 26,500 Congolese refugees who were registered in Gabon between 2001 and 2002 have indicated their intention to return home, reliable sources said here. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Ugandan authorities have accepted to allow Rwanda to screen refugee camps for possible armed dissidents and genocide suspects provided the right procedure is observed. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Sixty-seven Rwandan refugees, including five former anti-government combatants and their families returned home Tuesday through Ruzizi 1 border post in Cyangugu from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the state-owned radio reported here Wednesday. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- In collaboration with the International Migration Organisation (IMO), the UNHCR said it has resumed repatriation of Sierra Leonean refugees from Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- The return of refugees to Burundi from neighbouring Tanzania since the beginning of this year has reached an average of 1,000 people per week, administrative sources in the host regions said on Tuesday. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Rwandan authorities are pressing their Ugandan counterparts to allow them inspect refugee camps within their territory to ensure they are not being used to train armed dissidents preparing to attack Kigali. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The voluntary repatriation of an estimated 320,000 Burundi refugees in Tanzania is to be accelerated following a tripartite agreement by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the two governments, an official communique said in Dar es Salaam Thursday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Some 96 Rwandans who took refuge in Burundi in 1994, and who lived in the Muyinga and Rugombo camps, returned home Tuesday through the border town of Bugarama in Cyangugu Province in the country's south, official sources said Wednesday. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- Over 400 Ghanaians running away from the war in Liberia have arrived at Sulima, a seaside village in Sierra Leone, the UN refugee agency confirmed Tuesday. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- More than 7,000 Liberian refugees have entered Sierra Leone and registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says a news release issued here. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Ethiopian government has identified a new camp for Sudanese refugees in the country after more than 100 of them were killed in violent ethnic attacks over the last five months, State radio reported Tuesday. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- A top Ghanaian military officer has suggested the relocation of a Liberian refugee camp, warning that its current location just outside the capital, Accra had become a potential security risk to the nation. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Three Zambian church organisations Friday called on the Lusaka government to implement the voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees with care, so as not to ignite a backlash from Zambians. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- Renewed heavy fighting in Lofa, Gbarpolu, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount Counties of neighbouring Liberia has pushed some 6,000 Liberian refugees and 92 returnees into Sierra Leone, UNHCR said here Friday. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- European Union (EU) authorities have released 24 million Euros to assist Burundian and Congolese refugees living in Tanzania, says a news release issued here Tuesday. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The UNHCR office in Sierra Leone has registered about 5,000 civilians fleeing renewed fighting in Liberia since 12 February, chief UN spokesperson Yusef Hamdan said. Full text...

Mbabane- Swaziland (PANA) -- The Swazi government has deported some 40 refugees, mostly from DR Congo, whom it accused of being troublesome, said officials at Mbabane prison Tuesday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwe is experiencing an increase in asylum-seekers from the strife-torn Great Lakes region, UNHCR spokesperson Tapiwa Huye said here Saturday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Two UN agencies -- World Food Programme (WFP) and the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) -- Friday warned that the fate of more than 1. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Two male Ugandan and Tanzanian refugees who have lived here for a decade, Monday entered their third week in hiding after receiving death threats following a dispute over the management of a primary school where they teach. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The European Union has disbursed 1. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- Mary Ann Wyrsch, Deputy High Commissioner of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), arrived in Liberia Wednesday on a two-day fact-finding mission on the refugee situation in the country. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has elaborated an action plan for the management of refugees in Guinea, with deputy high commissioner Marie Anne Wyrsch saying the plan would be presented to donors next week. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- About 80,000 refugees face starvation in Northern Kenya following a decision by the World Food Programme (WFP) to stop supplying food aid to their camp. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Deputy Commissioner Marie Anne has appealed to Guinean officials to leave the border with Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire to facilitate the entry of people fleeing the strife. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) would donate 50,000 dollars to help displaced persons in Sudan, an AU press release quoted AU Interim Chairman, Amara Essy, as authorising here Thursday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) began discussions here Thursday with Zambian and Rwandan authorities for the repatriation of some 5,000 Rwandan refugees from Zambia. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- The UN refugee agency, UNHCR in Uganda, said Saturday it had relocated some 482 Rwandan refugees because of Lake flooding near their Orichinga camp in western Uganda. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The US has approved 11 million dollars to help refugees in four African countries to return home, the US embassy said in a statement in Freetown. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Zambia has begun exploring routes to be used to repatriate tens of thousands of refugees back to Angola, according to an official of the agency. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- At least 30 Ivorian refugees and Liberian returnees fleeing fighting in Cote d'Ivoire have died in the past one week at the Liberian border town of Butuo, a local paper reported in Monrovia Thursday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Some 27 Rwandans who had been fighting in the ranks of the Mai Mai militiamen in eastern Democratic Republic's South Kivu province returned home on Wednesday night, official sources disclosed in Kigali Thursday. Full text...

Goma- DR Congo (PANA) -- A non-governmental organisation, Life Peace Institute, has just carried out its first voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from areas under the control of Maï-Maï fighters led by General Padiri Karendo. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A meeting involving Zambian and Rwandan government officials as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is scheduled in Kigali next week to discuss the repatriation of more than 5,000 Rwandan refugees living in Zambia. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) officially reopened Monday its office in Yaounde after a year long closure of the bureau. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- The government of Ghana on Thursday repatriated by air 113 Liberian refugees who had been stranded on board a cargo ship at the port of Tema, near Accra. Full text...

Tema- Ghana (PANA) -- More than 100 Liberian refugees who left their camp outside Accra and others fleeing the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, are stranded at the Tema Port, some 25-km east of the Ghanaian capital, the Ghana News agency (GNA) reported Monday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Almost a year since the guns fell silent in Angola's long civil war, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Thursday that 2. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Describing 2002 as a "mixed bag," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Thursday predicted that next year could be worse should the US threatened war on Iraq trigger a fresh exodus of civilians in the Middle East. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Another batch of some 1,000 DR Congo refugees has arrived in Burundi after fleeing fighting in the eastern part of their country, witnesses said Monday. Full text...