Mildred Mulenga
PANA Correspondent
LUSAKA, Zambia (PANA) - The Lutheran World Federation is appealing to the international donors to urgently assist with food for all refugee settlements in Zambia saying that stocks have run out of supply.

Zambia currently hosts more than 220,000 refugees, the majority being Angolans. Others are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia.

The renewed fighting in neighbouring Angola has forced another 25,000 Angolans to seek protection in Zambia since late 1999. Eleven thousand of these are settled at Nangweshi camp on the western banks of Zambezi River in Western province.

LWF representative in Zambia, Hans Jensen-Fangel was speaking at the UNHCR office in Lusaka where the US Ambassador to Zambia, David Dunn, donated two hammer mills to Nangweshi and Mayukwayukwa refugee camps in Western province.

"The present supply food for all refugee settlements in Zambia is down to nil and the situation looks grim with the WFP unable to secure more funds for food supplies to refugees in Zambia," Jensen-Fangel said.

Some 14,000 refugees are settled at Mayukwayukwa camp, while Meheba refugee settlement, in north-western and the biggest in the country hosts 38,000 refugees. Mwange, in the northern part of Zambia hosts 23,000 Congolese refugees who fled into Zambia in 1999.

"We would like to sensitise the issue both locally here and outside to make aware that the situation is serious. The WFP is currently operating on food supply stock that was donated by the government of France and this would only last up to the middle of July and after that there will be no food at all," Jensen-Fangel said.

He said the camp which would be most hit is Nangweshi, which hosts Angolans refugees who recently fled into the country. The camp is not conducive for farming and as such no cultivation has been done by the refugees.

Meanwhile, Dunn said the US government announced early this month an additional funding of 28 million dollars in support of UNHCR programs in Africa, including 1.3 million dollars for the programme in Zambia.

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