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Forty-nine refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were voluntarily repatriated to their home country last week from South Africa.
The refugees were the first group of refugees from the DRC living in South Africa, who had expressed a desire to return to the Central African nation after fleeing conflict, persecution and human rights abuses.
They landed in the DRC last Friday after a collaboration between the Department of Home Affairs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to the UNHCR, there were less than 57,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from DRC living in South Africa last year.
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The UN refugee agency said it expected to repatriate up to 400 DRC refugees from SA this year through the voluntary repatriation process.
The figure was up from 275 applications that it received last year.
The UNHCR’s Laura Padoan told The Citizen on Wednesday the returnees arrived in the capital Kinshasa and the city of Lubumbashi, in the south-east of the DRC.
Padoan said these areas were considered safe for refugees to return to.
She said before the repatriation process could take place, individual reviews were carried out by the agency to ensure that returns are voluntary.
“It’s a massive personal choice [to choose voluntary repatriation] and the UNHCR only facilitates repatriations when they are voluntary and people are choosing rather than being coerced,” Padoan said.
“The refugees who have come to South Africa, they have enjoyed sanctuary here but they have come to a decision that it’s safe enough in their home areas to return.
“And that’s what every refugee I’ve met has told me that their deepest hope is always to go home when it’s safe to do so.”
With growing anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa, as seen through protests by Operation Dudula, Padoan said most of the refugees were choosing to return to the DRC not only because of the prevailing safety conditions in their country.
She said most of them were struggling in South Africa with getting access to documentation from the Department of Home Affairs and other services in the country.
“Some of the refugees have experienced issues around documentation and access to services, but many of the refugees have really made a success of their lives in South Africa.
“They contributed to their communities, either by creating employment for other people, and now they want to go back to DRC and offer those skills to their home country,” Padoan said.
She said the figure of refugees who applied for voluntary repatriation increased to 400 this year due to a number of reasons.
These included the eased travel restrictions globally related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The conditions are different this year. It’s easier to get around and fly because Covid restrictions have been loosened.
“But also it’s safer now to go back and we’re seeing more and more refugees approach the UNHCR and ask for voluntary repatriation.”
Padoan said on arrival in the DRC, returning families are given cash assistance to help them restart their lives, in addition to a transport allowance.
However, she said the UNHCR required the support of the international community to financially help the returnees as part of their refugee journeys.
“We offer a modest financial package. We provide them with transport costs and sometimes some seed funding to start up their lives again, but regardless of that, it can be very difficult to go back home when you don’t have accommodation and employment immediately,” Padoan said.
“The Congolese refugees coming from South Africa go back often with education and work experience, but when they go back to the DRC they often don’t know if they still have homes to go back to and families. It can be difficult to restart your life,” she added.
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