EIGHTY Liberian and Congolese refugees are coming to Bolton after being offered the chance of starting a new life.

They will be flown from camps in Sierra Leone and Uganda after fleeing war, torture and rape in their homelands.

The refugees - who will arrive in November - are considered to be among the most vulnerable in the world.

The Home Office has been struggling to find local authorities willing to take people in the camps after agreeing to allow 500 refugees into the country.

By offering to house the refugees, Bolton Council will be able to decrease the number of homes it has to make available to asylum seekers.

Under a contract signed in 2000, 160 homes were reserved for people applying for asylum across the borough.

There are currently around 800 asylum seekers in Bolton with around 350 of them living in council properties.

Council leader Cllr Barbara Ronson said she will consider taking more refugees in the future - if the scheme is a success.

She said: "This looks like a much more sensible attempt to deal with asylum.

"We will be taking people who the United Nations have already given refugee status because they consider them to be in danger."

More than 200,000 people have been killed and around one million have fled Liberia since the outbreak of civil war in 1989.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been described as the most unstable country in Africa following five years of civil war which has resulted in 3 million deaths and the rape of 40,000 women and girls.

As refugees, the group will receive all of the rights enjoyed by British citizens, including social security, for life.

The cost of housing them, as well as their education and health care, will be covered by the Home Office.

Jon Lord, head of community housing services, said groups of refugees would be housed in small clusters within walking distance of each other.

He said: "Other local authorities will be looking to see how successful we are at integrating them into the community. We intend to house them with St Vincent housing association for the first 12 months and hopefully by then they will be able to find work and become active citizens of the borough."

Julia Ravenscroft, a spokesman for Refugee Action, said: "This scheme offers a safe route to sanctuary for men, women and children who have been languising in refugee camps for years."

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