UNHCR moves refugees away from border areas

The UN's refugee agency has begun transferring thousands of Angolans who have recently arrived in Zambia to a camp away from the border. Delphine Marie, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Geneva, told IRIN on Tuesday that the refugees were being transported by truck to Nangweshi about 140 km from Zambia's western border with Angola. "The transfer of some 4,000 newly arrived refugees away from the borders is now half completed," Marie said. "About 2,000 refugees have already been moved and we are optimistic that the remaining 2,000 will be transferred by the end of this week." Several thousand Angolan refugees crossed over into Zambia’s Western province last week following fresh fighting between government forces (the FAA) and the UNITA rebel movement in Angola’s southern Cuando Cubango province. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that the FAA had launched a new offensive in southern Angola and were trying to consolidate their position ahead of the rainy season. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a press briefing on Friday that most of the new arrivals had come from the Angolan towns of Kavaleka and Cilenga. Marie said the new arrivals at Nangweshi were being accommodated in a temporary centre situated just outside the main camp and had received food for about a month, blankets, jerry cans and kitchen utensils. "The Nangweshi camp has already reached full capacity. The camp can house about 15,000 and at the moment we have 15,700 refugees at Nangweshi," said Marie. "The temporary site already has 1,300 refugees and with new arrivals this could overflow soon." Marie told IRIN that UNHCR had, a few months back, started negotiations with the Zambian authorities for a site to establish a new camp. "The negotiations have been going well and we are confident that we will be given a definite answer soon," Marie added. She said the proposed new camp would be situated on the eastern bank of the Zambezi river and would accommodate about 20,000 people. "Nangweshi is on the western bank and during the rainy season it becomes very difficult to access the camp."