BUJUMBURA, Burundi / ANKARA

Some 493 Burundians refugees, who had been living at a refugee camp in Rwanda, returned to their home country on Thursday, officials and the UN said.

“The initial group of 493 men, women and children opted to voluntarily return to Burundi after living in exile for five years,” “the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Rwanda said on Twitter late Thursday.

According to The New Times local newspaper, Olivier Kayumba, an official at the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management, said: “These are some of Burundian refugees who requested to be repatriated and we acted accordingly. In accordance with national and international laws”.”

In a statement, Rwandan Interior Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca said this is the first convoy, adding: “Rwanda will continue to facilitate any refugee willing to go back to his/her country of origin and protect those who wish to stay,” he added.

So far, UNHCR has registered 1,800 of nearly 72,000 Burundian refugees in Rwanda who wish to be repatriated, according to the newspaper.

Thousands of Burundians fled their country in 2015 to seek refuge in Rwanda and other neighboring countries due to political and security crises in the country.