Thousands Of DR Congo Refugees In Zambia Head Home

Nearly 5,000 refugees who fled to Zambia from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) four years ago are choosing to head home voluntarily over the coming months, with the first 100 people setting out yesterday.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Zambian authorities have begun the voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees from the Mantapala settlement, in Luapula province, to Pweto in Haut-Katanga province, DRC, as security has improved sufficiently to allow for their safe return. 

Some 4,774 refugees expressed their intention to return home voluntarily via ‘intention surveys’ carried out by UNHCR in October. The voluntary repatriation will continue into 2022, and is part of a 2006 tripartite agreement between the UNHCR and the Governments of Zambia and the DRC.

As conditions have been steadily improving in Haut-Katanga, an estimated 20,000 refugees have already spontaneously left Zambia since 2018 to return to their areas of origin, often Pweto. 

UNHCR is working with authorities in DRC and development partners like CARITAS, to ensure the refugee’s reintegration is as smooth as possible, and education, health and agriculture conditions can facilitate their arrival. 

Some 18,000 Congolese refugees have been living at the Mantapala settlement, alongside 5,000 Zambians, across 11 villages. The settlement was established in early 2018 to accommodate refugees who were displaced because of ethnic tensions, as well as fighting between Congolese security forces and militia groups in parts of southeastern DRC in 2017.

Other steps the Zambian government, the DTC, UNHCR and affiliate developmental organisations have taken include; the provision of Voluntary Repatriation documents; expedited immigration clearance; school certificates to allow children to resume their education in the DRC; Covid-19 rapid testing before the Congolese nationals cross the border back into their home countries, and vehicles and food for their journey. 

Zambia currently plays host to over 100,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and former refugees. These include 63,681 from the DRC at present. 

Photo: UN News