The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday handed over to Sudanese authorities the first group of 150 refugees returning from Ethiopia.

This marked the official launching of the long-awaited voluntary repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia to southern Sudan, said a press release from UNHCR's branch office in Ethiopia.

Five hundred refugees set out from the Bonga refugees camp in west Ethiopia on Friday and arrive at the border town of Kurmuk on Sunday after a tiring 820 km journey. They had to spend three nights on the road before the first batch of 150 individuals crossed the border at 0945 a.m. (0645 GMT)) on Monday.

UNHCR has established three reception centers at an average distance of 273 km to accommodate the returning refugees on their way home. The remaining 350 individuals will cross the border in two to three days' time at the rate of 150 a day.

UNHCR had earlier supplied all returning refugees with a package of non-food items, including blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheets, guinea-worm filters, kitchen sets, soaps and sanitary napkins/pads for women.

The Bonga refugee camp, from which the initial returns are taking place, was established in January 1993. After the first group has left for home, the population of the camp now stands at 18,154 refugees.

Some 79,000 southern Sudanese refugees live in five camps in west Ethiopia. Most of the refugees arrived in Ethiopia in 1983 and in the 1990s as a result of the civil war in southern Sudan.

UNHCR, Ethiopia and Sudan signed a tripartite agreement on February 27, paving the way for the repatriation.

Source: Xinhua