The European Union (EU) has granted Togo 14.6 million euros to finance the reinforcement of the facilities for the reception and reintegration of the Togolese refugees in neighbouring countries.
State-run daily 'Togo Presse' Monday quoted Gilbert Bawara, Togolese minister of cooperation and NEPAD, as saying the funds will be used to successfully complete actions already started in favour of the refugees' return home.
He indicated that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and a Togolese body will "reinforce the actions under way in order to offer better conditions of trust and security, and also build facilities necessary for the reception and reintegration of the refugees."
According to official figures, about 11,500 Togolese refugees have been living abroad, notably in Benin and Ghana, after fleeing violence the erupted when current President Faure Gnassingbe attempted replace his later father Gnassingbe Eyadema in February 2005.
The funds allocated to Togo come from the EU-sponsored 5th Long-Term Micro-Achievement Programme (PPMR).
Bawara and Filiberto Cereani Sebregondi, head of the EU delegation in Togo, signed the financing document, the paper said.