Zambia: arrivals from DRC continue

Briefing notes

Zambia: arrivals from DRC continue

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

8 December 2000

Refugees from the DR Congo continue to arrive in north-eastern Zambia. UNHCR still reports some 700 refugees at a school in the border town of Chiengi who are scheduled to be transferred to the established Kala camp, 140 km from Chiengi, later today (Friday). UNHCR is also looking after some 600 former fighters who have been disarmed by the Zambian authorities.

An unspecified number of Congolese civilians, who according to some estimates could number in the tens of thousands, are believed to be staying in surrounding villages and waiting for an opportune time to return home. Some are apparently using Zambia as a safe passage to the Lubumbashi area of Congo's Katanga province.

There are also reports of 1,000 civilians entering Zambia at Kaputa, some 60 km north-east of Chiengi.

Zambia has 243,000 refugees from nine nations, including 75,000 Angolans and 38,000 Congolese.