• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

DATE=09/29/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-267249

TITLE=UNHCR / ANGOLA (L ONLY)

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says there has been a dramatic upsurge in the number of Angolan refugees fleeing into Zambia. The agency says intensified fighting between UNITA rebels and government forces is responsible for the exodus. Lisa Schlein has the story.

TEXT: The U-N refugee agency says more than eight thousand Angolans have arrived in northwestern Zambia in the past five days and the figure could climb to 10-thousand in two or three days. U-N-H-C-R spokesman Kris Janowski says members of the UNITA rebel movement are among the refugees.

/// JANOWSKI ACT ///

This group increasingly includes hard-core members of the UNITA rebel movement in an indication that the rebels are being squeezed rather strongly in that area. We (have) got 50 UNITA members in the most recent group of refugees who have been accommodated separately from other refugees. They have been disarmed and our staff (is) on their way to talk to these people and assess their cases.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Janowski says the presence of UNITA fighters among those who have entered Zambia this week could signal, what he calls, an interesting new trend in the Angolan conflict. He says it is unusual to have actual UNITA members fleeing the country. But Mr. Janowski says the overwhelming majority of the refugees are civilians fleeing intense bombardment. He says, for now, the refugees are gathered near the Angolan-Zambian border.

/// JANOWSKI 2ND ACT ///

We've got supplies going into the area both from the government and from U-N-H-C-R. We are also gradually transferring these people to further inland to establish a refugee settlement called Meheba.

/// END ACT ///

The U-N Refugee Agency says that since the start of a government campaign against UNITA last October around 20-thousand Angolans have sought refuge in Zambia. The total number of Angolan refugees in Zambia is now estimated to be about 180-thousand. (Signed)

NEB/LS/KL/KBK