Refugee returns continue

In spite of the rainy season, the spontaneous return of refugees from Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has continued, with close to 1,000 arrivals registered last week in the eastern Angolan town of Cazombo, according to humanitarian reports. Since last year, some 130,000 refugees have returned home, the government says. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which does not have countrywide coverage, told IRIN it had been able to confirm the arrival of 97,000 refugees. Around half of the returnees have settled in the eastern province of Moxico. A formal repatriation programme by UNHCR is due to begin in June, targeting what was originally 450,000 Angolan refugees in the key neighbouring countries of Zambia, Namibia, and DRC, with smaller numbers hosted in the Republic of Congo and South Africa. The operation would be one of the biggest and most complicated UNHCR has conducted in Africa, said spokesperson Lucia Teoli. Entry points and the sites for reception centres had been agreed with the participating governments. UNHCR had also discussed issues of protection, shelter and transportation with the Angolan authorities and NGOs. "We are working to achieve those conditions of a safe and dignified return," Teoli told IRIN. Most of Angola's refugees will go back to the provinces bordering their countries of asylum. The heaviest concentration of returnees is expected to be Moxico, coming home from Zambia, which sheltered Angolans throughout the country's long civil war.