Thousands of refugees may stay in Mozambique - UNHCR

MAPUTO, Apr 30 (Reuters) Thousands of refugees from central Africa are reluctant to leave Mozambique and may settle permanently in the former Portuguese colony, an official with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

Mozambique, which has been at peace since the end of a civil war in 1992, is sheltering more than 10,000 refugees who fled conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African nations.

About half of them are from the DRC, with smaller numbers from Burundi, Uganda, Sudan and other nations.

In a press briefing in the capital Maputo, UNHCR's Mozambican representative, Victoria Akeyampong said most of the refugees had expressed no desire to return home.

''Some may even be thinking of settling here indefinitely, but for this they need to seek residence permission from the Mozambican state,'' Akeyampong said, adding that any repatriation would be done on a voluntary basis.

She said about 300 of the refugees, mostly from the DRC, had asked to go home.

''We hope to repatriate them by the end of next month and agreements have been reached with some air companies to transport this group,'' Akeyampong said.

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