The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IOM are today
jointly appealing for close to USD 21 million to help more than
34,000 Angolan refugees return home to Angola this year.

Another 26,000 are expected to return to Angola  in 2012
with the largest number of returnees over the two years coming from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), currently host to more
than 111,000 Angolan refugees.

Although UNHCR's large-scale voluntary repatriation operation of
Angolan refugees closed in 2007, about 146,000 Angolan refugees in
total remain in Botswana, the DRC, the Republic of Congo (ROC),
Namibia and Zambia, nearly 10 years after the end of Angola's
brutal civil war.

Many of the refugees in the DRC and Zambia are still living in
camps and dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival.

They, and Angolan refugees in the other three host countries,
also cease to be refugees at the end of the year and should they
stay on, will become migrants instead.

With the five host countries and the Angolan government keen to
find durable solutions for the Angolan refugees, helping those who
want to return home provides a unique opportunity to bring closure
to one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world.

Over the past few weeks, 124 refugees from two camps in Zambia
have already been assisted home by IOM and UNHCR. Nearly 9,000
Angolans out of more than 25,000 in Zambia have so far expressed a
desire to return home.

UNHCR has already begun mass information campaigns and
go-and-see visits to enable refugees to make an informed decision
on returning to Angola.

The two organizations will work together on the operation which
includes assisting refugees obtain vital documentation, the
provision of medical screening, shelter and other humanitarian
assistance at way stations and transit centres in the host
countries.

IOM will transport the refugees and their belongings to Angola
by road or air, while in the DRC, it will also provide technical
support to immigration authorities at the main land border points
between the two countries.

The Organization, which has been asked by the Angolan government
to establish and operate transit and reception centres in Angola
for returning refugees, will also focus on the rehabilitation of
roads and the transportation of the refugees to final destinations
in Bengo, Cabinda, Huambo, Moxico, Uige and Zaire provinces. IOM
will also provide medical escort for vulnerable individuals.

The Angolan Ministry for Social Welfare and Reintegration
(MINARS), which is coordinating the Angolan voluntary repatriation
operation with UNHCR and IOM, will provide returnees with social
reintegration kits. These include construction and agricultural
tools and items for income generating activities as well as a
three-month food ration which IOM will distribute.

In addition to providing technical advice and support to the
Angolan government, UNHCR will monitor the returns, address any
protection issues that may occur, work with authorities on issuance
of civil documents and provide Portuguese language instruction to
refugees returning from the DRC, ROC and Zambia.

For further information, at IOM, please contact:

Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9486/+ 41 79 217 3374

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int

or

Jumbe Omari Jumbe

Tel: + 41 22 717 9405/+ 41 79 812 7734

E-mail: "mailto:jjumbe@iom.int">jjumbe@iom.int 

At UNHCR:

Celine Schmitt

UNHCR DRC

Tel: + 243817009484

E-mail: "mailto:Schmitt@unhcr.org">Schmitt@unhcr.org

or

Sybella Wilkes

UNHCR Geneva

Tel: +41 22 739 7968/+41 79 557 9138

E-mail: "mailto:wilkes@unhcr.org">wilkes@unhcr.org