JUBA, Sudan, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The U.N. on Tuesday appealed for $63 million to help repatriate 80,000 south Sudanese refugees years after they fled to neighbouring countries to escape Africa's longest civil war.

The U.N.'s refugee agency the UNHCR said it needed the cash for a programme that has already returned more than 2 million people since Sudan's north-south conflict ended in 2005.

The appeal came as campaign group Refugees International called on south Sudan's government to switch millions of dollars of funding towards helping the returnees, many of whom were coming back from exile to find a total lack of basic services.

The UNHCR said people were determined to return home, despite the problems with the local economy and the region's weak education and health services.

"People are going back with or without our help. They're tired of being refugees," said UNHCR Spokeswoman Fatoumata Kaba.

She added the agency was tripling the budget for "reintegration projects" to help returnees settle back in.

The agency said it was hoping this year to return 45,000 Sudanese refugees from Uganda, 17,000 from Kenya, 16,000 from Ethiopia and 2,000 from Egypt - still less than a third of the 260,000 Sudanese refugees remaining outside Sudan's borders.

Refugees International (RI) told Reuters south Sudan's government needed to step up funding for those returning.

"People haven't seen much government-led contribution," RI advocate Melanie Teff told Reuters. "This is not the priority of the government. You can see from the breakdown of the budget."

She said more southern oil revenues currently spent on cars, government buildings and a huge salary payroll should be switched to providing water, health and education services.

For a link to the UNHCR statement, click on: http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47b1be634.html (Writing by Skye Wheeler, Editing by Keith Weir)

AlertNet news is provided by