DRC/Tanzania: Refugees begin returning for voter registration

Some 1,000 refugees in camps in Tanzania returned to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late in July in order to register to vote in the 2006 general elections, according to UNHCR. Voter registration is set to begin in the province of South Kivu on 21 August and will end 21 days later. The National Independent Electoral Commission has said it cannot tour countries bordering the DRC to register refugees. In addition, the commission's deputy president, Norbert Kantitima Bashengezi, said it did not have the means to repatriate the refugees.