From IOM PRESS BRIEFING NOTES
by Thomas Weiss, IOM Spokesperson
IOM has started transporting to a safer place away from the border some of the 1,100 Angolan nationals who recently entered the North Western Province of Zambia.
Today, the first convoy of six IOM hired buses and trucks carrying some 360 refugees accompanied by nurses and police officers left Maheba camp, located some 80 kilometres from Solwezi. The convoy is expected to complete its 1,200-kilometre trip to Ukwimi in the Eastern Province in 2 days. This camp, located some 70 kilometres from Petauke, has better facilities and is at a safe distance from the borders of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Upon arrival in Ukwimi, IOM, UNHCR, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and other operational partners will provide plastic sheeting and set up a basic health clinic. For its part, IOM will provide medical staff, supplementary drugs, medical kits and four additional deep wells for water.
Several thousand Angolan refugees have recently entered Zambia following intense fighting between UNITA and Angolan Government forces in the Moxico Province of Eastern Angola. In mid-October, several hundred refugees arrived in Western Zambia after fleeing renewed fighting in the South Eastern Cuando Cubango Province.
In March 2000, IOM and UNHCR relocated some 9,000 Angolan refugees from the border area of Sinjembela to Nangweshi, about 120 kilometres inside Zambian territory.
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