ZAMBIA: Refugees resettlement starts

The resettling of approximately 15,000 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugees from Kaputa to Mporokoso, 200 kms away, began this weekend, with the arrival of about 300 men, women and children on Saturday. UNHCR official Dominik Bartsch told IRIN on Monday the first batch of refugees arrived at Mwange camp, about 208 kms from Mporokoso, on Saturday. Bartsch said there are two major reasons why the refugees are being moved from Kaputa to Mporokoso, about 200 kms away. "Firstly, it is an international convention requirement regarding refugees that they must be accommodated at least 50 kms away from the border. Secondly, Kaputa was overcrowded and therefore its facilities overstretched, as the town grew from a population of 300 to about 15,000 with the influx of refugees." An aid agency worker told IRIN that a group of about 165 refugees who were camped in Mpulungu had arrived in Mwange, which is 2001 square hectares in size. "The camp has already been prepared to receive the refugees," the aid worker said, adding that 200 toilets have been constructed and a water treatment centre and a clinic have been established. When complete, Mwange will accommodate up to 35,000 refugees, Bartsch said. Bartsch said six buses and eight trucks are being used to transport the refugees but there are plans to further increase the transport capacity to allow for expeditious movement. Presently the refugees travel overnight with a stopover at Chimpembe ferry because of the poor road network. He said the current food supplies in Kaputa will only last for one week, "but further supplies were being loaded in Lusaka." Bartsch also said non-food items like blankets and plastic sheeting were presently being transported to Mporokoso while the World Food Programme (WFP) had transferred one of its hammer mills to the new camp. The influx of refugees into Kaputa started in early March when the war in the DRC intensified where rebels of the Rally for a Democratic Congo have been fighting to overthrow the government of president Laurent Kabila since August last year.