ReliefWeb

On 8 August a total of 351 Congolese refugees (121 families) were successful relocated from Mussungue reception centre to the Lóvua site.

By the end of the current week the full relocation of Mussunge reception centre to Lóvua is expected to be completed.

Malaria infection rates remain similar to past week, 348 in both centres (last week 335 were registered).

KEY FIGURES

75%
Of Congolese refugees in Angola are women and children
33,132
Biometrically registered Congolese refugees in Dundo area (8 August 2017) (5 July 2017). June)
50,000 Inter-agency planning figure for Congolese refugees from the Kasai region in northern Angola by the end of the year

FUNDING (AS OF 8 AUGUST)
USD 65,507,610
requested for Angola Inter-agency Refugee Response

Update on Key Achievements

Operational Context

Violence and ethnic tensions in the Kasai Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has forced over 33,000 individuals to seek safety in Angola’s Lunda Norte. While thousands of refugee from DRC have arrived in Angola since April 2017, the number of newly-arrived refugees has decreased significantly since early July 2017. According to interviews with recently arrived refugees, the reasons for the reduction in the number of refugee arrivals is due to people hiding in the bush fearful of being caught in the ongoing conflict and insecurity, attacks by government and militia forces as well as limited access to border points adjacent to Lunda Norte.

As the security situation in the Kasai region remains fluid, humanitarian organizations in Angola stand ready to provide protection and assistance to a potential 50,000 Congolese refugees who may seek asylum in the country by the end of 2017. This will bring the total number of DRC refugees arriving in Lunda Norte in 2017 to 80,000 individuals.

The current ongoing plan is to relocate the Congolese refugees in Lunda Norte to Lóvua settlement, 94km west of Dundo. As the Government of Angola (GoA) was facing some delays in clearing and preparing the land, Partners took initiative to speed up the settlement preparation by assuming part of the GoA responsibilities and engaged with the cleaning and opening of the roads using refugee and host community labour. The relocation was carefully planned by all partners involved in the operation by preparing an inter-agency relocation plan shared with partners and authorities, and conducting several messaging initiatives to understand cultural / ethnic protection aspects within the refugee population and with the host communities to consider in the plan.

Relocation of refugees from Mussungue reception centre to Lóvua started on 8 August 2017 with the successful movement of 351 people (112 families), with only the no-shows of 9 individuals from the pre-manifest list of 360 persons. The site will consist of nine zones with nine villages each, and each villages will have 72 plots hosting a total of 360 refugees in each village. Some 200 refugees from Mussungue and Cacanda reception Centres as well as 50 workers from among the host community were hired to assist with the manual clearing of the site.

So far, 3 villages are ready and the forth is being finalized. The arrival centre is ready with lighting and integrated cooking energy needs. All health partners are ready to provide medical services starting from the first day of relocation. Communal latrines and showers in the reception area are ready