wfn.org | ANGOLAN REFUGEES TO BE REPATRIATED

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

News from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

June 6, 1996

Beginning this summer Angolan refugees from settlements
in Zambia will be repatriated in accordance with the
Lusaka Peace Protocol of November 1994.  Action by
Churches Together (ACT) will provide support for the
effort.  ACT is a worldwide network of churches,
including the Lutheran World Federation, meeting human
need through coordinated emergency response.  A total of
31,000 Angolans could be repatriated.  In order for a
successful voluntary repatriation, ACT says information
campaigns and demographic surveys must be conducted,
mine awareness education stepped up, transit centers
constructed with feeding and sanitation areas, and roads
and bridges repaired to the border.  An important
component of the education plan is training about the
danger of land mines, identification of land mines, and what
to do in case a land mine is found. The settlements have
been home to Angolan refugees since 1971.  Two
convoys of 1,000 refugees each will make the trip to the
border transit center each week.  Resources are needed
for training of personnel, transport and printed materials.
Refugees say they will need assurances from various
leaders that life in Angola is returning to an acceptable
level and their home areas are peaceful.  ACT's plan is to
take traditional leaders and village chairmen from the
settlements in Zambia to home areas in Angola so they can
spread a positive word.  At the same time traditional
leaders within Angola itself will visit the settlements in
Zambia to assure the returnees that all is well.  Lutheran
World Federation will provide blankets and quilts for use
in reception and transit centers and used clothing in family
packages for returnees, on the day of their departure to
Angola.  These donated commodities are already in a
Lusaka warehouse.  The Lutheran World Federation is a
worldwide communion of 122 member churches, including
the Evangelical Lutheran Church is America.

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