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UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata wound up a visit to Zambia on Tuesday saying she found that refugees who have fled recent fighting between government forces and UNITA rebels were in a “desperate, depressed situation”.
She made the remarks after visiting refugees in Kalabo on the western banks of the upper Zambezi. A UNHCR spokesman told IRIN the plight of the estimated 5,000 Kalabo refugees would be alleviated by an airlift which has been ferrying people out to Mongu and then taking them by road onward to the established Mayukwayukwa refugee camp. Zambia is home to some 160,000 Angolan refugees, of whom some 21,000 have fled since October.
Meanwhile, Zambian Vice President Christon Tembo told Ogata the country lacked the resources to support the refugees: “We are appealing to the international community to help us. The problem is a drain on our revenue. It is giving us stress on our economy,” Tembo told reporters.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
