By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LUANDA, Angola – A rapidly expanding humanitarian crisis among the tens of thousands of people expelled by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring Angola is beginning to unfold. Nearly 30,000 Angolans recently expelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who are now seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in northern Angola, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Shelter, food, medicine and sanitation facilitation are among the most pressing needs, according to UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic. “The supply of clean water is insufficient,” said Mahecic. “Some of the expelled drink from the nearby contaminated rivers.” Diarrhea and vomiting have been reported among those living in camps, where many are sleeping in the open air.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has expelled more than 20,000 Angolans from its territory this month alone in order to retaliate against Angola’s expulsion of illegal Congolese diamond miners, an Angolan official said. “We hope the expulsion of Angolans from the Congo ends soon,” said Angolan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abreu de Breganha, adding that the recent expulsions were to retaliate for the regular expulsion of thousands of illegal Congolese diamond miners from Angola.

During Angola’s almost three decades of civil war, which ended in 2002, the DRC hosted more than 100,000 Angolan refugees; since then, thousands of undocumented Congolese migrants – mostly thought to be illegal diamond diggers – have been working in Angola.

The ebb and flow of people expelled from both sides of the border has become a common spat between the neighbors. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) there have been six major waves of expulsions since 2003, in which a total of 140,000 Congolese were deported from Angola.

Tit-for-tat expulsions since August 2009 by the governments of Angola and DRC have led to more than 32,000 Angolans being repatriated to Angola, and about 18,800 Congolese nationals being deported from Angola. Following talks on 13 October in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, both countries agreed to “immediately stop the expulsions of citizens of their respective states,” said the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative, Bohdan Nahajlo

Nahajlo told IRIN that providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced was becoming a race against time, as the rainy season was closing in and would make the roads from the Angolan capital, Luanda, impassable, and the M’banza Congo airport in Angola’s northern province of Zaire was not an option because it was closed for renovation.

“Besides addressing the immediate humanitarian and protection needs, we should also prepare for a continuous flow of Angolans into the country,” who were crossing the border out of fear, and the hope of being reunited with their families in Angola, warned Nahajlo. A recent UNHCR assessment of Angolan refugees in the DRC found that about 43,000 were willing to be repatriated voluntarily, but “in this atmosphere people will be encouraged to return,” and the refugee agency was expecting a second wave of about 50,000 people, Nahajlo said.

For more information, please see:

All Africa – Almost 30,000 Angolans Expelled From Country Need Help – UN Refugee Agency – 20 October 2009

UNNews- Almost 30,000 Angolans expelled from DR Congo need help – UN refugee agency – 20 October 2009

IRIN – Humanitarian crisis now unfolding – 20 October 2009

Reuters – Congo expels over 20,000 Angolans in tit-for-tat – 12 October 2009