Lusaka, 27 Feb-(ANA)-The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is to resume voluntary repatriation of Angolan refugees from Zambia, two years after the programme was formally ended, due to the growing numbers of asylum seekers willing to return home.
James Lynch, UNHCR country director for Zambia, said assisted repatriation was expected to resume in May 2009, and would apply to both camp-based refugees and those self-settled within Zambian communities.
It would mark the last opportunity for the Angolans to be helped home by the UN agency, he said.
Angola's 27-year civil war, which forced hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighbouring countries, ended in 2002 following the death of rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi. Some Angolans have been in Zambia for nearly four decades. (ANA)
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