ZAMBIA: Runaway DRC soldiers held in Zambian prison
JOHANNESBURG, 14 November (IRIN) - More than 250 government soldiers fled
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into the Kaputa district of Zambia's
Northern province at the weekend, UNHCR told IRIN on Tuesday.
"As far as we know, 256 combatants have crossed into Zambia since Friday,"
Kelvin Shimo, a UNHCR representative in the Zambian capital Lusaka, said.
"These soldiers are being held in prison until they renounce their military
status and officially seek asylum, until then the UNHCR can do nothing with
these men."
A Zambian police spokesman, Lemmy Kajoba, confirmed to AFP on Monday that
the troops were being held in custody in northern Zambia. Shimo said that
when and if the soldiers become refugees, they would be moved to Ukwimi in
Zambia's Eastern Province, where the government and the UNHCR have created a
special camp for ex-fighters from Angola's UNITA rebels and for some DRC
soldiers.
Zambian police said they had confiscated weapons, including AK-47 rifles,
from the DRC soldiers and that they would be stepping up security in the
area where the soldiers crossed into the country. The state-owned 'Times of
Zambia' newspaper reported on Monday that the soldiers fled into Zambia
after rebels launched a fresh offensive around the town of Kalemie in
eastern DRC, about 250 km south of the Burundi capital Bujumbura.
The newspaper quoted district administrator Emmanuel Chileshe in Kaputa
district as saying that the situation is causing concern because the
soldiers are hungry and could start looting in an area where the food
situation is already bad. Kaputa district has in recent months faced an
influx of refugees and soldiers fleeing the civil war in the DRC.
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