Accord signed on repatriation of Angolan refugees

Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed an agreement on Monday for the voluntary repatriation of 193,000 Angolan refugees in the Congo, a UNHCR official said.

"Both governments have agreed to translate, in clear written terms, their common undertaking to ensure the safety of refugees who agree to return," Ngoladje Kapra Mbaijol, the UNHCR regional delegate in the DRC, told IRIN. "By signing this accord, the DRC has undertaken to protect those who are unwilling to go home."

The accord, signed in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, marks the beginning of an operation that could end in the first half of 2003. Some of the refugees have lived in the DRC over 25 years. The UNHCR, its humanitarian partners and the Angolan government are preparing to effect the reintegration into society of the returnees, most of whom fled decades of war in their country.

"We do not want people who have fled their countries because of psychological dramas to return only to relive other dramas," Joao Batista Mawete, Angola's ambassador to the DRC, said.

UNHCR estimates that 70,000 Angolan refugees in neighbouring countries have returned home. "A quarter - or 18,000 - came from the DRC," Mbaijol said.

The DRC hosts the second-largest number of Angolan refugees in the region after Zambia, which has 211,000. Namibia has 25,000 and South Africa 10,000. There are also some in the Republic of Congo.