Sudan praised for refugee efforts

UN operation in Sudan: Food distribution to Eritrean refugees

The United Nations high Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, has praised Sudan for sheltering thousands of refugees for decades - including the latest arrivals from Eritrea.

Mrs Ogata is visiting camps in eastern Sudan set up for Eritreans fleeing the recent fighting with Ethiopia.

I came to say thank you, and to see what steps can be taken to help the refugees

Sadako Ogata, UNHCR

She said her organisation had already sent four plane loads of non-food relief to the area, and that a fifth was on its way.

According to the UNHCR, more than 70,000 Eritrean refugees have arrived in Sudan in the past few weeks, adding to the more than 500,000 refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia who fled there during previous wars between the two countries.

Mrs Ogata will visit Kassala on Monday for a tour of refugee camps near the border with Eritrea.

The Eritrean authorities have appealed to the UN to help with the repatriation of many of the refugees.

Sadako Ogata will consider whether it is safe to send refugees home

However, despite the UN being keen to see the refugees return home, it has refused to provide further assistance until a permanent ceasefire is established.

Despite Ethiopia's declaration last week that the war was over, fighting continues in some areas.

Mrs Ogata is likely to want to assess the security situation before deciding whether to start organising voluntary returns.

African tour

She is on a six-nation tour of Eastern and Central Africa to assess the impact of regional wars, and will also visit Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

During her African tour, Mrs Ogata will also visit Burundi, where hundreds of thousands of Burundians have been displaced by civil war.

Many have been interned in camps, which the chief mediator in the Burundi peace process, former South African President Nelson Mandela, has described as concentration camps.

The high commissioner will also view the UN aid operations in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All of these countries are struggling to cope with big refugee populations as well as thousands of their own citizens who have been uprooted from their homes.