Road home strewn with mines
2003-06-18 21:31
Lusaka - After years of waiting, refugees anxious to return to Angola are facing yet another hurdle - land mines on the road home.
The UN High Commission for Refugees aborted what was to be one of the first refugee convoys from Zambia to Angola after a land mine was found last week on the Zambian side of the border.
Some 211 000 Angolan refugees reside in Zambia.
The group of 400 was to have gone to the Angolan border town of Cazombo where they were scheduled to stay briefly before returning to their villages.
United Nations officials in northwestern Zambia said on Wednesday the roads were being checked for mines.
"It is quite thorough but, of course, they want it accomplished in the shortest possible time," said Stanley Miselini, a UN official.
Until last year Angola had been wracked by civil war since its independence from Portugal in 1975. The conflict has left about half a million Angolans in refugee camps across southern Africa.
The UNHCR has committed $200m toward bringing the refugees home. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA