UNITA rebels among new refugees arriving in Zambia: UNHCR
29 September -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today reported that approximately 50 members of the Angolan rebel group, UNITA were among some 8,500 refugees who had arrived in Zambia from Angola over the past five days.
Briefing the press in Geneva, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said that senior officers of UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) might be among the rebels, who have been disarmed and accommodated in a separate camp in Mwinilunga province.
The refugee agency is planning a joint mission with Zambian officials to the area next week to interview the rebels and assess their cases, the spokesman said.
"The overwhelming majority of the refugees are civilians who have fled fierce fighting between UNITA rebels and advancing government troops in the eastern Moxico province of Angola," Mr. Janowski said, adding that the offensive had resulted in the fall of the town of Cazombo to government forces last week. "Almost all villages previously held by UNITA in the province now appear to have been retaken by the government," he said.
According to UNHCR officials in Zambia, the presence of UNITA fighters among those who have entered Zambia this week could signal a new trend in the Angolan conflict, with rebels themselves now fleeing the country. Previous arrivals over the past few months included a majority of women and children, some of them relatives of the fighters, but not the fighters themselves, Mr. Janowski said.
Close to 20,000 Angolans have sought refuge in Zambia since a fresh government campaign against the rebel movement started last October. UNHCR expects the number of refugees to reach 10,000 over the weekend.
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