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Angola: Inter-Agency Operational Update (1 August 2017)

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Angola
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UNHCR
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8 August has been confirmed as the starting date of the relocation exercise to transfer refugees from Mussungue reception centre to the Lóvua site.

The rate of new refugee arrivals to Angola remains low with an average of 1 to 5 per day.

Malaria infection rates decreased in Cacanda reception centre with morbidity of 28 per cent (decrease from 47 per cent in the past week).

KEY FIGURES

75%
Of Congolese refugees in Angola are women and children
32,677
Biometrically registered Congolese refugees in Dundo area (30 July 2017) 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 24 JULY)

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 32,000 individuals to seek safety in Angola’s Lunda Norte. Refugees report indiscriminate mass killing of unarmed civilians, rape, burning of villages and people, dismemberment and other grave human rights abuses together with the shortage of food, basic goods and services as reasons for flight.
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 Government of Angola (GoA) has identified the site of Lóvua, some 94 km West of Dundo, to host refugees. Humanitarian partners, supporting the GoA, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Reintegration (MINARS) in particular, continue to develop the site ensuring establishment of an arrival/reception center and installation of basic services prior to the relocation of refugees in August, before the onset of the rainy season.