Final phase of repatriation flagged off

The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, on Tuesday kicked off the final phase of its programme to repatriate Angolan refugees from Zambia, an official told IRIN. The 75 Angolans who left the Meheba refugee settlement in northeastern Zambia for home are some of the remaining 34,500 that the agency intends repatriating by the end of October 2005, said UNHCR spokesman Kelvin Shimo. More than 8,000 Angolans in the Meheba, Mayukwayukwa and Nangweshi camps have decided not to return. "Most of these have been living in Zambia for at least three decades and are now part of the local community - they will not be our responsibility, and will be subject to the country's immigration laws," explained Shimo. Next year the UNHCR will shift its focus to assisting the 75,000 to 90,000 Angolans who live outside the camps to return. More than 200,000 Angolans sought refuge in Zambia during almost three decades of civil war between the government and the rebel movement, UNITA, which ended in 2002. According to the Angolan government, 70,000 refugees have returned home under their own steam since the ceasefire.