More than 7,000 South Sudanese refugees in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo returned to Lasu area in Yei River State — the latest batch to return home in recent months.

The governor of Yei River State, Emmanuel Adil Anthony, told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that more than 7,000 South Sudanese refugees returned home from Congo as calm returns to some parts of the state.

“More than 7,000 refugees have returned to Lasu. Many refugees are also returning home from Uganda and Congo because they need peace,” he said.

Adil added that the voluntary return of refugees to the country was in the interest of the peace process.

The top state official said that the returnees are staying in Lasu without enough food and other services. He called on aid agencies to support the returnees in the area of Lasu.

Separately, Governor Adil pointed out that the roads linking Yei town to Kaya, Juba and Tore, which were closed due to insecurity, have been reopened.

Adil revealed that he had visited greater Kajo-Keji County last week to brief the local population on the revitalized peace agreement.

He added that the people of Kajo-Keji called on both the military and political leaders to respect and fully implement the revitalized peace deal.

In September 2018, President Salva Kiir and several opposition groups, including key opposition leader Riek Machar signed a final peace deal to end the conflict. Under the signed agreement, a new unity government will be formed in May 2019.