No early return of refugees

A ceasefire agreement for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to be signed by regional leaders in Lusaka on Saturday, would not trigger the early return of the 25,000 DRC refugees in Zambia, a senior UNHCR official told IRIN on Thursday. "We are hoping that with the political process advancing positively it will eventually have an impact on humanitarian work," UNHCR's resident representative in Zambia, Olusai Bajulai said. "But (the refugees) need to see security and stability in the country. Until then they will hold back to see how things pan out." What was needed were "confidence-building measures", he added. There are some 12,000 registered DRC refugees in the Mwange camp in northwestern Zambia . A further 10,000 are sheltered in the villages surrounding the border town of Kaputa, with 3,000 in UNHCR's transit centre awaiting transfer to Mwange. They have fled fighting in the Pweto area of eastern DRC. Bajulai said he was "worried" that although there have been no new DRC arrivals in Zambia recently, there has been a surge of refugees into Tanzania, who could make their way south and cross into Zambia.