Angola
Spillover of refugees and conflict from Angola to Congo

afrol.com, 31 October  - 18,000 Angolan displaced are waiting to enter Congo Kinshasa (DRC), adding to the 170,000 Angolan refugees already present in the country. The Angolan civil war and the uncontrolled influx of refugees to neighbour countries is threatening to destabilize the whole region. 

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received reports that between 15,000 and 18,000 displaced Angolans have gathered in border villages waiting to cross into the DRC province of South Badundu, southeast of Kinshasa. They are fleeing intensified clashes between government forces and UNITA rebels in Angola’s Lunda Norte province. They are expected to cross to the DRC border town of Kahemba, where UNHCR is already looking after 10,000 Angolan refugees. 

Fuel shortages and muddy roads from Kinshasa are making it very difficult to transport food and other supplies to the area. On Monday, two trucks carrying 80 metric tons of food left Kinshasa for a 1,000 km journey to Kahemba along a route dotted with military checkpoints. They are only expected to reach their destination in 10 days. 

- More supplies will be sent by road next week, the UNHCR spokesman today informed. "The other option of airlifting relief supplies is not feasible at the moment because of a shortage of aircraft fuel in the DRC," he added.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo already hosts 170,000 Angolan refugees who fled during earlier stages of Angola’s civil war. Intensifying fighting in Angola recently also drove thousands of Angolans into Zambia, which hosts 180,000 Angolans. Refugee numbers have increased dramatically after the intense fighting between UNITA and government forces in the eastern Moxico province.

Spillover
From Zambia, reports show that several Angolan refugees lately have been UNITA ex combatants, entering the country with their arms. According to IPS, the number of these ex combatants has reached 350. Zambian authorities have experienced a destabilization of its eastern provinces due to the sale of weapons and enhanced banditry this has brought. UN diplomats thus have warned of a possible spillover of the Angolan conflict to Zambia and Namibia, but also the DRC, with its high influx of refugees is at danger of obtaining another conflict line.

The large majority of refugees, however, are civilians fleeing the conflict zone and peacefully seeking protection in a calmer neighbour country. These hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees normally also become the first victims of their armed compatriots and suspicious citizens of their hosting country.

There has also been a spillover of the fighting between UNITA and the Angolan government to Zambia and Namibia, especially after Namibia opened up its territory for operations led by the Angolan Government. Civilians have been killed and injured by mines in both countries.

Cabinda
While the situation in northern mainland Angola is worsening, normality is slowly returning to the Angola enclave Cabinda, located between the two Congolese states. Last week, UNHCR started repatriating hundreds of refugees from the DRC and Congo Brazzaville to Cabinda. Some of these returnees had been in exile since they fled fighting for independence in Cabinda 25 years ago. 

Source: Based on UNHCR

© afrol.com. Texts and graphics may be reproduced freely, under the condition that their origin is clearly referred to, see Conditions.    You can contact us at mail@afrol.com