Poor conditions for returning refugees

Angolan refugees arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are staying in "very poor conditions" in the eastern town of Luau, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. A WFP vulnerability assessment to Luau in Moxico province, which is a major transit point for refugees returning from DRC, found that "new returnees were staying in very poor conditions at two transit centres with no assistance from the [government's relief organisation] MINARS or humanitarian agencies". According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, around 4,000 Angolans returned through Luau from DRC in the last three months. The WFP mission recommended the establishment of a reception/transit centre for returning refugees with basic sanitation, food and medical assistance, introduction of a reliable registration system, and their nutritional screening. The mission also urgently recommended targeted distribution of seeds and tools to be accompanied with seed protection rations. Meanwhile, a joint WFP and government mission found "serious food insecurity" among residents and displaced in the diamond-rich Lunda Norte provincial municipalities of Lucapa, Chitato and Cambulo. The "food insecurity is a result of looting of crops, restricted access to land caused by the nearby ENDIAMA diamond operation, a lack of seeds and tools and exorbitant prices in local markets (in some cases three times higher than those found in Luanda)", WFP said.