The United Nations has resumed the repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Uganda to southern Sudan, French press agency (AFP) reports.
The UN refugee agency, which announced a halt to the operation on October 20, said it re-started the repatriations on Tuesday this week after both Ugandan and southern Sudanese authorities reported the security situation in the Sudan had had improved.
UNHCR spokesperson, Roberta Russo, said the repatriations were suspended because Uganda and Sudan had closed the border. She said both countries issued a statement saying that the situation is under control, allowing the return of the refugees to resume.
The operation stopped after at least 40 civilians were killed in ambushes in southern Sudan last week, in what were initially thought to be attacks related to peace talks there between Uganda and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
The UNHCR has repatriated about 14,000 refugees to southern Sudan since December 2005 following the end of the country's long-running north-south civil war the previous January. Of these refugees, 4,500 had been living in camps in Uganda.
There are currently 350,000 south Sudanese refugees in camps in Uganda and neighbouring countries, and another four million who remain displaced internally in Sudan from the 21-year war.
