Attachments
BACKGROUND:
UNHCR has been in Angola for 43 years since the signing of the ‘Accord de Siege’ in February 1977. During this time,
UNHCR has played an important role in the history of Angola such as leading the repatriation of Angolans who fled the long civil war. With reestablishment of peace in 2002, the Government of Angola asked for UNHCR support to facilitate repatriation of Angolan refugees. After voluntarily repatriation took place, from 2003 until 2015, more than 523,000 Angolan refugees returned, more than half coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). From 2015 to 2016,
UNHCR Angola operation focused on urban refugees and asylum seekers. In 2017, influx of refugees fleeing Kasai region in DRC forced the operation to scale up. The Field Office Dundo was established and, eventually, the Lovua Settlement in Lundo Norte. Currently, there are more than 56,000 refugees and asylum seekers (25,522 refugees and 30,280 asylum-seekers) in Angola spread over provinces such as Luanda and Lunda Norte. These refugees represent a multitude of countries such as the DRC, Rwanda, Mauritania and others. They are in several provinces across Angola with majority residing in Luanda and Lunda Norte. UNHCR is a key observer of the National Council for Refugees (CNR) and works with several partners on the ground to ensure that refugees and person at risk of statelessness are protected and have access to livelihood and durable solutions. These asylum-seekers backlog has been pending before 2015. RSD has been suspended before 2015 and yet to resume.