UNHCR repatriates Angolan refugees

A repatriation convoy carrying over 600 Angolan refugees was expected to leave the Republic of Congo (ROC) for the enclave of Cabinda, an oil-rich piece of Angolan territory separated from the rest of the country by a strip of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kris Janowski, spokesman for UNHCR said on Tuesday. The majority of those returning home in the convoy from the port town of Pointe Noire had been living there for the last eight years. In addition to a reintegration package from UNHCR, the government of Angola has allocated half a hectare of arable land for each returnee family, and will distribute construction materials to enable each family to put up a house.

According to UNHCR, there are still more than 12,000 Angolan refugees from Cabinda in Pointe Noire alone, and at least 30,000 in the DRC province of Bas-Congo, where UNHCR was preparing to move 10,000 recent arrivals away from the border. The refugees had fled a rebel offensive on 3 August in northern Angola, according to UNHCR. Nearly 2,000 of them are in Kimvula while more than 8,000 are in Kitompolo, both in the DRC, four km from the Angolan border. UNHCR has deployed emergency teams to the border to help with registration, distribution of basic supplies and the transfer of refugees away from border areas.