Renewed clashes in Angola send thousands more into DR of Congo: UN agency

Fresh fighting in northern Angola has sent a new wave of Angolan refugees into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today.

According to the agency, more than 3,000 Angolans have already arrived in the DRC town of Kimvula and nearly 250 more are arriving daily. The new movement comes barely two months after more than 15,000 refugees fled to the DRC following an attack by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

In the latest influx, more than 3,000 Angolan refugees have arrived in Kimvula since mid-September, fleeing more fighting between Angolan government forces and UNITA at Kimbindi, in the north of Angola's Uige Province. Kimvula is 30 kilometres north of Angola's northern border with the DRC.

UNHCR teams at the border town reported that, before the new arrivals, Kimvula already had close to 9,000 refugees from an earlier influx in August. That group had been awaiting transfer to sites away from the border.

The agency has begun to register the latest group of refugees in preparation for their transfer, along with the earlier groups, to settlement sites allocated by DRC local authorities. It is also negotiating for two additional sites to settle the most recent arrivals.

UNHCR specialists have been deployed to the new sites, some 60 to 80 kilometres from the border, and have begun to demarcate parcels for distribution to the refugees. Refugee families transferred to the area will receive 2 to 3 hectares of land for basic subsistence farming, in addition to initial food and household supplies.

The agency estimates that the latest influx brings the number of Angolan refugees in the DRC close to 200,000.