U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 - Zambia

Zambia hosted about 160,000 refugees at the end of 1998, including over 140,000 from Angola, 12,000 from Congo-Kinshasa, and nearly 5,000 from other countries, including Rwanda and Burundi.

Refugees from Angola

More than 140,000 Angolan refugees remained in Zambia at year's end. This largely self-settled population arrived during twenty years of civil war in Angola.

In 1998, about 4,000 new refugees fled across the border into western Zambia. The resumption of the Angolan civil war did not produce the massive influx of refugees some predicted because population centers in Angola are far from the border.

In June, the intensified conflict in Angola prompted UNHCR to suspend repatriation from Zambia to Angola. In July, UNHCR estimated that more than 1,800 Angolan refugees arrived in Zambia following intensified fighting. In November, UNHCR registered several hundred Angolan refugees in northwest Zambia, some of whom reported fleeing forced conscription in their home areas. By year's end, UNHCR transferred about 1,000 new Angolan refugees to Meheba settlement in northwestern Zambia.

The actual number of Angolan refugees in Zambia remained highly speculative because the vast majority lived in local communities in western Zambia and received little or no aid. Customary cross-border movements made it hard to estimate the number of new Angolan refugees who may have spontaneously settled in Zambia's Western Province during the year. UNHCR estimated that fewer than 2,000 new refugees settled without assistance, while some NGOs estimated that up to 4,000 new arrivals crossed the border during the year.

As prospects for repatriation diminished during the year, UNHCR promoted local integration activities. Refugees achieved varying degrees of self-sufficiency; only about 27,000 received assistance in 1998. Given the potential for a massive influx of additional Angolan refugees into Zambia, UNHCR made contingency planning a priority and expanded two existing sites: the sprawling Meheba settlement in Northwest Province and the remote Mayukwayukwa settlement in Western Province.

In early March, the Angolan government expressed concern to Zambian authorities regarding allegations of Angolan rebels and arms trafficking in the Maheba and Mayukwayukwa camps. A joint UN-Zambian delegation to the camps disputed claims that armed elements were there. The Zambian Minister for Presidential Affairs appealed to the refugees to "maintain peace" and promised that the government would continue to monitor the situation. Human Rights Watch concluded that Angolan rebels had some degree of contact with the refugee camps but that rumors of military airstrips in the area were unfounded.

Refugees from Congo-Kinshasa

Some 12,000 refugees from neighboring Congo-Kinshasa remained in Zambia at year's end. Some fled to Zambia after civil war broke out again in August. Others arrived in Zambia in 1997 during the previous civil war in Congo-Kinshasa.

UNHCR facilitated the repatriation of about 200 Congolese in 1998. As many as 1,300 Congolese refugees left Meheba settlement, and presumably relocated to urban areas or spontaneously returned home on their own.

According to UNHCR, about 70 percent – or about 10,000 – of the nearly 14,000 urban refugees living in or near the capital, Lusaka, came from Congo-Kinshasa. About 15 percent of them received assistance.

Other Refugees

Zambia hosted several thousand recognized refugees from other countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, and Somalia. Many lived in the Lusaka area. Others settled in established camps. The Munyoni settlement in northwest Zambia housed more than 1,000 Burundians and Rwandans. In September, UNHCR reported that it completed the screening of Rwandan asylum seekers to determine individual refugee status, but did not announce the results.