World Refugees Day to be Celebrated on June 18

Lesotho will join the world in commemorating the fourth World Refugees Day with celebrations held at the Maseru Sun Hotel on June 18, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety has announced.

The statement said the Ministry decided to mark this occasion a few days earlier as the official United Nations General Assembly designated day, June 20, falls on a Sunday.

The country currently is host to 48 refugees from about seven African countries, 15 female and 33 male, some of whom are medical doctors, teachers, radiologists, mechanics, nurses and students.

The refugees are from such countries as the Democratic republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi and Zimbabwe, the statement said.

16 June 2004