Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Band Aid Charitable Trust, set up by rock music lege nds Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, in 1985, has given 55,000 pounds (US$ 86,000) to U NHCR to help Somali refugees in eastern Ethiopia, the UN refugee agency said in a news dispatch from London. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo h as decided to introduce identity cards for refugees, in a move to protect them and give them more freedo m of movement, it was announced Wednesday in Kinshasa. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Kenyan government has said it will review the condit ion of the refugee camps in the country, even as it pledge to continue to honour its obligation of hosting refugees from countries f acing turmoil in the region. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Representatives of government and civil society from 12 countries in East Africa and the Great Lakes region will meet here next week to devise strategies for responding to an effective, coordinated and protec t ion-sensitive manner to the growing irregular migration of people from the regio n to southern Africa, the UN Refugee Agency said here Thursday. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is ass isting about 1,500 Central African refugees scattered along the border with the D emocratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- The French government has given 200,000 euros for th e purchase of drugs for refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who are settled in the department of Likouala, in the northern part of Congo Brazzaville, a source close to the Congolese Minis ter of Social Affairs and Solidarity told PANA here. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said aid workers were Wednesday allowed back into the Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Kal m a, South Darfur. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has given su ccour to thousands of flood victims in Chad, where villages have been destroyed and cultivated land ruined by the countryâ?s heavi est rainfall in 40 years. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has given su ccour to thousands of flood victims in Chad, where villages have been destroyed and cultivated land ruined by the countryâ?s heavi est rainfall in 40 years. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The US government has approved US$2,899,420 for Mauritanian refugees repatriated from Senegal and refugees originally from other countries present in Mauritanian, a statement from the US embassy to Nouakchott s aid on Monday. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the branch of the Red Cross in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursd a y began distribution of food to some 53,000 refugees who have fled the civil war in North-Kivu in the east of the country, according to a statement from the huma n itarian organization. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The UN Refugee Agency on Thursday reaffirmed it s commitment to support Tanzania through various national and local structures i n providing leadership to make sure that refugees in the country are protected wi t hin the framework of the international protection regime. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- An estimated 20,000 people have been displaced in Beni area of North Kivu Province of DR Congo (DRC) as a result of an armed conflict last week between the national army and the Uga ndan armed opposition group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), according to a UN report made available to PANA here Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Two million southern Sudanese living in north Sudan are at a great risk of targeted violence and statelessness if the south votes to secede in a referendum planned for next April, a global refugee agency, Refugees International, has warned in a report published here on Wednesday. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Angola currently shelters 14,734 refugees from various countries, including 11,900 from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), most of whom have been in the country for 30 years, the Angolan News Agency, ANGOP, reported. Full text...

Saurimo- Angola (PANA) -- Sixteen Angola families who were repatriated from the refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia and settled in Muangueji ward, in Saurimo City,eastern Lunda Sul Province, will soon be given a proper accommodation, the Angola press agency, ANGOP,reported. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Kenyan police have abused Somali refugees, forcing some to return to Somalia when they could not pay large bribes, a Human Rights Watch report said on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan Police officers routinely abuse Somali asylum seekers and refugees fleeing the fighting in the Horn of Africa nation, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A non-governmental relief agency, Refugee International, has criticised humanitarian organisations in the Horn of Africa for ignoring the plight of Somali refugees living in camps and urban settings in neighbouring countries,according to a report published here Thursday. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ang ola, Bohdam Nahajlo, said on Tuesday in Luanda that Angola would from late 2011 n o longer refer to its citizens residing in Congo, Zambia and other countries as r efugees. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday, said the number of refugees voluntarily returning home declined in 2009, describing the development as "the lowest since 1990. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) – More than 144,700 refu-gees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Congo Brazzaville will be able to return to their country following an agreement signed between the two countries and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), sources have told PANA. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- African ministers in charge of forced displacemen ts kicked off a meeting here Friday to draw up a plan for the implementation of a landmark treaty signed in April 2009, during a special S ummit of African leaders on the protection of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) held in Kampala, Uganda. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- The United Nations food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with The Gambia Food and Nutrition Association (GAFNA), has embark on a six-day food distribution exercise to extend aid to the Cassaman c e refugees in The Gambia. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) â" Ghana and Togo on Wednesday- agreed that about a 1,000 Gh anaians, and not 3,500, were sheltering in Togo after fleeing ethnic conflict in Ghana's Northern Region. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes is due in Khartoum Wednesday for a five-day visit to assess conditions in Southern S udan and evaluate the humanitarian situation in the restive Darfur Region, accor d ing to a UN brief, made available to PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Nearly 3,500 Ghanaians, mostly women and children, have fled their communities in Ghana to settle in the Tandjoare community, in northern To g o, according to the Togolese television, which covered a visit of the Togolese M i nister of Security, Colonel Atcha Titikpina, to Tandjoare. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (I CRC) Monday facilitated the handover of 44 members of the Sudanese armed forces t o government authorities close to Nyala, South Darfur. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (I CRC) said Wednesday it has facilitated the liberation and transfer of 44 Sudanes e armed forces personnel to the Sudanese authorities in El Fasher, the capital ci t y of North Darfur State. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- In the face of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situat ion, the United Nations refugee agency has called for increased funding to help t hose displaced both inside and outside Somalia. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Amid a wave of refugees from Somalia and Eritre a, the Ethiopian government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) an n ounced Wednesday that they need an additional US$13 million to be able to assist almost 25,000 refugees from Somalia expected to enter Ethiopia in the next few m o nths. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- The European Union will grant 6. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR ) and the National Commission for Refugees (NCFR) will from 18-21 May begin a ca m paign and profiling exercise for â?no fewer than 5,263 registered Liberian refug eesâ? in the country, according to a statement from the UN Information Centre in Lagos made available to PANA. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The European Commission Monday announced an allocation of 3 million euros in humanitarian aid for programmes to support Somali refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camps. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLA M), a Diaspora organisation, has deplored the condition of the refugees who were repatriated from Senegal fro m January 2008. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- When Tanzania proclaimed the naturalisation of 162,256 erstwhile Barundi refugees 15 April, the East African nation was only keeping to the tradition of being a haven of peace shielding the roily neighbourhood of the Great Lakes region. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- The government of Burundi has welcomed with "gratitu de and relief" the decision by Tanzania to naturalize 162,000 Barundi refugees living in the country. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The Tanzania government has granted citizenship to 162,000 former refugees from Burundi, affirming its commitment to integrate them into the local society. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antَnio Guterres, has lauded Tanzania's landmark decision to grant citizenship to tens of thousands of Burundian refugees who fled to Tanzania in 1972. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antأ³nio Guterres, will Sunday start a five-day mission in Tanzania to assess the process of natur a lization of several Burundian refugees in the country, official sources told PAN A here on Saturday. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- France will grant 220,000 euros for the purchase of 222 tonnes of rice as part of a six-month emergency food assistance operation to the refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sources from the French Embassy told PANA Thursday in Brazzaville. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it will need about US$20 million to meet the needs of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Full text...

Dar es Salaam-Tanzania (PANA) -- The East African Community (EAC) and the UN Refu gee Agency (UNHCR) Tuesday unveiled here a framework for cooperation in areas of common concern, including the protection of forcibly displaced people and regulatory regimes affecting the movement of persons, immigration and refuge e management. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Over 20,000 Burundian refugees would put an end to t heir exile and get back home during 2010 from Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic R e public of Congo and Malawi, according to Ms. Full text...

Kinshasa- RD Congo (PANA) -- A three-day tripartite meeting, bringing together ex perts from the DR Congo, Rwanda and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), being held in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, will decide on a voluntary repatriation of 53,000 Congolese and 80,000 Rwandan refugees to their respective countries, t h e National Commission for Refugees (CNR) said. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday sai d it had started relocating Somali refugees from a transit centre in Ethiopia's D olo Ado, near the border with Somalia, to a new camp at Melkadida, some 65 kilom e tres away. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) â" Authorities in T-anzania are processing the na turalisation of 600 Somali refugees who fled the lingering bloody conflict in their Horn of Africa country, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Khamisi Kagasheki has told the ongoing National Assembly (parliament) session in Dodoma, central Tanza nia. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- London-based Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday called on the Chadian government to allow UN peacekeepers to continue protecting 250,0 0 0 refugees from Darfur and 170,000 internally-displaced people (IDPs) in the eas t of the country. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Twenty nine African Union (AU) member countries h ave signed the convention on internally displaced persons (IDP), and more are ex p ected to follow suit soon, a senior official said on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- More than 100,000 Congolese refugees have now crossed th e Oubangui River and found refugee in the Republic of Congo since inter-ethnic violence erupted i n Equateur province late last year, the UN refugee agency said. Full text...