‘Help Zambia!’… UNHCR echoes EL’s pleas for international aid to deal with influx of DRC refugees

• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu is today expected to visit Kenani transit camp in Nchelenge of Luapula where close to 6,000 refugees fleeing fighting in the DRC have sought shelter. Picture by EDDIE MWANALEZA/STATE HOUSE

By SARAH MWANZA –
AS the number of asylum seekers from the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) neared 6,000 yesterday, the resident United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Zambia has described the parlous refugee situation in the camp as a humanitarian crisis calling for international assistance.
UNHCR country representative Pierrine Aylara said Zambia required international mobilisation and substantive funding to handle the unfolding situation.
“We are appealing to donors to mobilise and put Zambia on top of the human development agenda, because this is clearly a humanitarian crisis,” Ms Aylara said.
She cautioned that the number of refugees would continue to rise.
“We do not have any budget and we were not expecting this situation, and neither did we prepare for it. I am sure you are anxious to know how we are assisting these refugees until now. The answer is simple – we have an operational reserve, which enables us to kick-start and, as such, our headquarters has supported us with some of the remittances, but it is not substantive compared to the needs here.”
With a steady daily inflow of between 100 and150 arriving at the Kenani transit centre in Nchelenge in Luapuala Province, the total count yesterday stood at 5,890, well beyond the 5,000 capacity of the facility which is today expected to be visited by President Edgar Lungu.
Ms Aylara thanked the Zambian Government for the continued support to the refugees.
Her comments come one month after President Lungu made a similar plea during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) gathering in New York, where he told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Zambia would need international support to help the increasing numbers of asylum seekers into the country from the DRC.
Commissioner for refugees under the Ministry of Home Affairs Abdon Mawere said the Government had identified two places where the asylum seekers would be settled permanently.
One of the locations has been offered by Chiefteness Kayembo of Nchelenge.
Mr Mawere said despite the rising numbers of arrivals, the Government was doing everything possible to provide social amenities for the refugees.
He said the number of refugees from the DRC started increasing towards the end of August and had now got to the place where the transit camp had become inadequate.
“We have tried our best together with our partners to ensure that the refugees are as comfortable as they can be in the circumstances, and kept in humane conditions,” Mr Mawere said.
Meanwhile, one of the refugees Maureen Kalumba, 34, a mother of seven vowed to never return to her country, saying she could not imagine herself and her family going through the experience again.
Ms Kalumba said the situation in her country was tense and volatile and that a lot of people had lost their lives.
President Lungu’s Special aide Amos Chanda confirmed that the Head of State would be accompanied by United Nations (UN) humanitarian actors on his visit to the camp.
“The President wants the international community to do more in their interventions to prevent the situation at Kenani from deteriorating,” Mr Chanda said.
Mr Chanda said the concern of the President was that going into the rainy season, the situation should be controlled.
He said that from assessment, all indications were that the situation was getting worse by the day and could easily degenerate.
Mr Chanda said while leaders of the Great Lakes Region were doing their best to stabilise the political situation in the DRC, the most immediate concern for President Lungu was to secure the welfare of the refugees.
“The political differences in the DRC are generally responsible for the influx of refugees into Zambia and other neighbouring countries,” Mr Chanda said. “A political process by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Great Lakes region is in motion to mitigate the situation.”
Mr Chanda said the Government had received an indication of greater support from donors such as the European Union and the US.