The United Nations refugee agency is encouraging the remaining 51,000 Congolese refugees in northern Zambia to return home, saying conditions in many areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are suitable for repatriation.
While the decision to repatriate is voluntary, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today that many towns and villages are accessible by road and former combat zones have been cleared of landmines.
The agency is offering security to returning refugees as well as basic services, including schools, health clinics and potable water.
“We encourage you to seriously consider voluntary repatriation while assistance is still available,” UNHCR Representative in Zambia, James Lynch, told refugees in Kwala and Mwange refugee camps, more than 1,000 kilometres from the capital Lusaka.
“We’ll assist those that want to go back,” he added, referring to the food, farming tools and housing materials given to returnees.
In recent weeks, UNHCR has embarked on a campaign to promote repatriation by disseminating information by radio and going door-to-door in the two camps. Combined with the impact of “come-and-tell” visits from the DRC, the effect has been positive, with a growing number of refugees expressing interest in returning home to Katanga province in the south.
During the first week in October, UNHCR will organize “go-and-see” visits for refugees to explore the areas of the DRC they fled during the civil war that ended earlier this decade.
Since voluntary repatriation began last year, 13,284 Congolese have gone home from Zambia, and UNHCR plans to help 30,000 more return in the next year.
Zambia currently hosts about 87,000 refugees, and around 57,000 live in four camps in Western, North Western, Northern and Luapula provinces, with another 30,000 living outside the camps. Congolese make up the majority of refugees, followed by Angolans, and smaller numbers from Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia.
ENDS
we have zimbabwaen refugees also.
twabasunga sana,its about time
Zambia is the only country where foreigners come and reap then go without a thank you
Some Congolese guy narrated the horrifying story of how he was treated and put in prison by the Zambian government for not being in possession of legal immigration documents and to me that was a human rights violation and definitely one wouldn’t want to be treated like that in a foreign country (legal or not immigrant)
how was he treated?
aba baku zaire ba kasai they run away from camps,buy zambian reg. ku ministry of home affairs paja paboma.they go and commit crime in south africa,when caught they say a zambian.tabasunga maningi and they dont appreciate.
Just allocate them land and give them citizenships, we are one people
they have to leave….if they are not contributing positively to the nation…then they have to zwa….kuya bebele..yendani kwanu…even the zimboz shud leave…nxt ni ba mwenye…they dont invest back in the country..ma cho cho nai mwe watch out…m back in town
it is time we went back, our children dnt even know how to cook michopo, have even forgotten how to speak Kisanga?Mutatubeba shiku kani? we are tired of being called ba kasai,we are not all kasai’s. and thankyou for keeping us ,you are lucky we have stopped stealing cars. shalenipo
let them stay. they are better lovers elo have no kaso like you zambian men. am marrying one of them so he wont go back
# 10 Thanx mulamu ,so you know.
# please give me your young sister so that i also stay.Am currently staying in kanyama HIGH COST
let them go back where they came from their ka governor ka katumbi even had the nerve to close the kasumbalesa border at one time.
#11 & #12..VERY FUNNY….LOL…I was being serious but see what uv done..now m laughing…peeps around think m goin mad…
#10 as well…
WHATS UP WITH THE FLAGS…WHAT DO THEY REP..MOS DEF NOT THE COUNTRY UR POSTING FROM
#12 semeki. siwezi ku kupatia mloko yangu. c’est impossible for the whole family to marry from congo. she’s marrying a chinese investor.
sisi banamuke ba zambiye tuna mipenda sana
Let them go, bashupa sana ku C-belt, and most of them are even called Mutale’s, and so on. Bwana: ati ndiwe mutundu bwanji, refugee: ati ndine mu bembele (meaning bemba. they are crazy fellaz
SHIZO!!!!! LOL
LT MY BIG MAN,Atleast wen we hit the back button,let us not find our comments deleted,its so upsetting…how much mo can someone take.
wonder wat will happen to Zambians living in Congo.
I agree with #8 over ba mwenye…they have exploited us enough. Find all the Congolese that are educated or can contribute to our development, give them citizenship, and repatriate the rest.
#7 & 10 seen! Me glad me is not de only one wid de overstanding fe oneness here! Rasta come fi break down de barriers, Black is Black!
You zambians treat others as you would like to be treated.Zambians living in Congo are left to mind their own business,why can’t you do the same with congolese in your country?All i can say is that your are Jealous of them ,they are intelligents,better looking and …more just simply the best
Just leave them alone we are all world citizens.But get the bad ones back to where they came from.Yap it takes an immigrant to understand an immigrant.
lt ya shani
#4 you sound desperate; I wouldn’t be suprised if you are an illegal citizen in one of these countries where you expect.
#7, has Israel given you land and citizenship? I didn’t think so. But you rush to give out your land to others when there is a serious shortage of prime land in Zambia already.
NI NA PENDA BANAMUKE BA NA TOKA KU CONGO NA MIYE,KAMA NI NA ENDA KULE KU LEO N’JO LEO KUNWA MPOMBE NA KU CHEKA NA WATOTO WA KU CONGO
Mpompo, unfortunately for you, Zambian guys fail to perform sexually on you because you have too much water. Congolese don’t mind.
#23 Well..the fact is that we should learn to protect our country as well..just as you would not like every Jim and Jack to come in your house and leave as they wish…What are they giving to the country in terms of development..basically nothing,most thieves with AK’Z ARE CONGOLESE..
#23 they are better looking if you call males bleaching their faces good looking. I would be jealous of Angolans, South Africans and Mozambicans because they are really better-looking and have money. Not the Congolese who just buy clothes to look fashionable on the streets but have no homes and sleep on the floor.
Jealous ? NO!! I JUST WANT MY ZAMBIAN people to have a better future. Im appalled at your reasoning in believing that foreigners are more intelligent than Zambians.
With my Punjab friends…they make money and dont bother to invest back..they send the money back to India and the money that the keep her they hide under there beds..taking money out of seculation. so my friends wake up…Have u ever been to Congo,they wont treat you like a prince or princes..
Bun Dem Dread, weh yah se? Just cuh people dem a Black nuh mean dem cum live pon mi yard..Bredren if man dem nuh contribute fi di wel bein ya di country, run dem out..we nuh need no Punjab or di Congo man dem..Mi se Bun Dem out..CHESS EM OUT…If Yuh want oneness let em not tief we..Onnou get mi mi yute.
Well said ba Ole…Bleaching dosent make u handsome…
zambia is a good country but we wasted all our years taking care of our naighbours.how long will that go on?
#4 in every country where refugees go they live in a camp before they are given documentation.if they are found in wrong places they are taken into custody until verified so stop this zambia and human rights issue,iv seen it even here in EU,some runway from camps and go underground,commit crime and the like.there alot of congolese smugling in Z and we need some control remember its our country we are talking about ,even after being abroad many yrs i still want to go back home and be in a zambia iv always wished not a country full of refugees andyet cant sustain itself,high robbery,
#10 Wangu uko wapi? Je suis heureux que vous aimez ce que mon frère est fait pour vous, muungu aku barike…. viva RDC!! Congo mboka na biso. Zambia na Congo chalo chimo if didn’t know please go back to your history books. Katanga province was once apart of Zambia and today we have some Lamba families that are part Zambian and Congolese
#37 we also have lunda’s,kaonde’s luvale’s in lubumbashi, all these boundaries are just artificial created by the muzungu when he was looking for copper and gold.
those that want us to go we are going but remember that i will be back to vote for my brother SATA.
#36 i think you are in Sweden look at England those boys killing one another are they from Congo???? nop they are all white boyz i repeat white boyz
#10 mpompo likes the congolese because she likes “petit filet” they are notorious for that ku Paris uko, Kinshasa B. i know becoz the congolese here told me. hihihi..even the other french-speaking africans know this. if you dont know what petit filet is..dont worry..its nasty anyways..LOL. tami sungani…muka bwelele mwe…
#36 what smuggling are you talking about sure? Are you sure you have facts on that, which camps? Some of these Congolese refs are more productive than most of the Zambians living in the areas surrounding the camps. Go see for ya self
LT its not Kwala and Mwange. Its Kala and Mwange
Just take them back they are becoming thieves once they know the local language. They don´t even fear to kill because some of them have used guns before
#39 paddler, please get your facts right,the boys doing the killing here are mostly black boys,many of them african kids from war torn countries.they have no respect for human life.In a london court last week Kanyanta Mulenga was remanded in custody for gunning down a former boxer,who had tried to stop them smoking in a none smoking wine bar.
hey hey hey stop its the mo#%f@r remix ya all pips are blogging from outside Zed and I wonder why you are saying dat these congo pips should go back what are you doing in those foreign countries lead by example by going back to zambia…don’t be hypocrites aight we are one pipo and when God created the Earth he dint say dat this is Zambia or This is Guantanamo No No No this world is ours let them stay if they wanna stay or go back if they like.dont Hate am only being real aight….hala acha boy back am out….enough respect and peace.
Give them citizenship.
The comments here are hilarious.. LORRL!!! please continue, i have no comments on this one, God forbid that Zambians ever have to seek refuge in other countries. God bless y’all.
# 44 you lie through your teeth i watch sky and BBC on DSTV most of the killings say 90% are committed by whites what are talking about? Who are the Hoodies? mostly white male boys. I bet you dnt even have a TV not only that but time to watch??? you spend all the hrs working , we know you guys work 22 hrs a day to make ends meet.fuel gas are all going up you will freeze like your friends in Russia
Eeehhh, Congole nyonso unatoka wapi? Likambo nini?