ANGOLA KICK-STARTS REFUGEE RETURN
Mar 13th, 2009 by admin
Angola is renewing efforts to return refugees still displaced in neighbouring African countries seven years after its civil war ended. More than 200,000 Angolan refugees are scattered around camps in Zambia, Namibia and Congo DRC and Brazzaville. A representative for the UN refugee agency Bohdan Nahajlo, told AFP news agency they will hold meetings with Congo, DRC and Namibia in the coming months. He said they are expecting tens of thousands of refugees to return to Angola this year and the early part of next year, adding the returnees will be adequately supported. More than 400,000 Angolans were repatriated between 2003 and 2007 but the scheme ended abruptly. A UN report said the repatriations were hindered by a lack of jobs, services, sanitation, and poor roads, as well as the landmines across formerly fertile agricultural land. Angola’s civil war lasted 27 years claiming half a million lives. Millions of Angolans were forced to leave their homes.