Nearly 30,000 Angolans expelled from DR Congo require assistance

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported nearly 30,000 Angolans were recently expelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The refugees are seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in northern Angola. The United Nations press release says the Angolans are sheltering in three congested reception centres in Cuimba and Mama Rosa, near Angola’s border with the DRC. They are in need of food, shelter, sanitation facilities and medicine. The release quotes UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic saying, “The supply of clean water is insufficient. Some of the expelled drink from the nearby contaminated rivers.” “Of particular concern is the fact that there are significant numbers of Angolan refugees among the forcibly returned,” Mahecic added. Some of the people who were forced to leave the DRC claim they had documents certifying their refugee status. Others reported they were forced back to Angola before they could take their identification documents or belongings. “However, Angolan authorities told the inter-agency mission that they expected further, large-scale returns of Angolans who feel they can no longer remain in the DRC,” Mahecic noted