Law-breaking refugees pose challenge

A large number of asylum seekers, who are flouting Zambia's laws by living outside settlement camps, pose a challenge to the UN's repatriation efforts. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that at least 30,000 of the more than 100,000 refugees in Zambia are living illegally outside of the five settlement camps in the country. Mgbangson Lawrence, UNHCR's Senior Protection Officer in Zambia, said a number of asylum seekers had defied the law, which requires that refugees remain in designated places, to settle in urban areas like the capital, Lusaka. Refugees are allowed to leave the settlement camps for a period of up to a month, and sometimes for even longer, with permission from the authorities. In a bid to improve the refugees' skills, the UNHCR has allowed professionals to work outside camps, and even set up a business for a limited period. "Some of the refugees tend to beat the system by staying away, others lack knowledge about the law, but in most cases it's a calculated attempt to break the rules and later stay in urban areas," Lawrence told IRIN. Once the refugees are outside the camp, UNHCR is unable to monitor them or include them in their repatriation programmes. Those who settle outside the camps are not deemed illegal immigrants. "Refugees in urban areas are still refugees, although they might have flouted Zambia's laws for refugees. If any refugee is arrested, the UNHCR negotiates with relevant authorities to release them and they are later taken back to their camps," Lawrence explained. Zambia is home to refugees from strife-torn countries as far away as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Burundi, but the majority are from Angola. During 27 years of civil war an estimated 500,000 Angolans fled to neighbouring countries, including Zambia. The asylum seekers have been allowed to access basic services, but none have been granted permanent residence. Many Angolans, like Esnart Ilunga, 35, who has been living in Zambia for more than three decades, would like to stay on permanently. During the civil war Ilunga fled from Huambo in central Angola, her hometown, at the age of three. She claimed she could not go home because her deceased parents had been staunch supporters of the late rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi. "I fear for my life because we are told that all the people who supported Savimbi risk persecution, when we go back home to reunite with our families as well as participate in elections, [expected] this year," she said. But the Zambian government has turned down her application for permanent residence. The UN refugee agency is to lobby the Zambian government for permanent residence for those refugees who have lived in the country for more than 10 years or are making a contribution to the economy. Zambia's Commissioner for Refugees, Jacob Mphepo, said the authorities did not have a problem with the duration of the refugees' stay, like the Rwandans and Angolans who had been living in Zambia for decades, provided they continued to stay on as asylum seekers. He pointed out that the government had made exceptions, and some refugees with special requirements - study or profession-related - had been allowed to stay in urban areas outside the camps for a specific period. This category of refugees also includes those who require special medical attention, face security threats or are destined for resettlement programmes in other countries.