Africa: Africa's refugees return home, international support still needed, says UNHCR Africa bureau chief

In March 2004, a UNHCR-sponsored conference in Geneva, known as the Africa Dialogue, brought together senior government officials from Africa, donor states and representatives of international organisations. All shared the same goal: to find durable solutions for Africa's four million refugees and bring to a close some of the most protracted refugee crises in the world. A year on, more than 350,000 refugees have returned home, but there is a mixed picture ahead for 2005 with the potential success of some repatriation movements overshadowed by instability in some key regions.