Over Four thousand former Angola refugees have applied for resident permits in Zambia.
Formal applications have been lodged in for various permits by the former Angolan refugees since last year.
Home Affairs Minister Edgar Lungu has disclosed this when he officially opened the 7th Zambia, Angola and UNHCR Tripatite meeting in Lusaka.
Mr. Lungu however says some applicants have not met the requirements for integration.
He says government embarked on the process of local integration of former Angolan refugees in November 2012.
Mr. Lungu says the government of Angola and Zambia requested for the meeting in light of the developments that have taken place since 31st December 2011 when a general cessation of refugees status became effective for Angolan refugees.
And Angolan Minister of Assistance and Social Re-integration Dr Joao Batista Kussumu says the Angolan government is finalizing the dossier concerning the plight of the refugees.
Meanwhile, UNHCR Country Representative Laura lo Castrol says the Zambia government and the UN agency will assist refugees who do not qualify for resident permits, to return to Angola.
As an immigrant myself, I can’t fault this – that is if proper immigration controls are applied.
Baza titengela ncito zamene bakamba ati baza creator ba Shamenda! Navakudya, namavoti………
Você falta juiz mais e respeito dos outro. Compotamento dos barata !
Parvo, stupido KBM. I don’t want to waste my Portuguese on people like him. However most people from Angola speak Kaonde so ” Munda nimukyibu”.
Good for them.Some of them only know Zambia as their own because they were young when they crossed the border or have been in the country too long to have any connections with Angola.
Cant agree more with you! As a matter of fact, others were born in Zambia. To them Angola is just an ancestral land. Just like the Luba-Lunda phenomenon.
If there is a more compationate country than Zambia when it comes to refugees, I havent seen it. I just cant say enough about the Zambian people in general how they have welcomed every refugee from southern africa especially during their struggle for independence. It all started with KK and even though Zambia does not have skyscrapers to show off, the country has spent more on humanity than any African country.
Bapakisa! Angola is calm these days
Mwachita bwino just imagine a man came to zambia 20yrs ago and today send Him to angola hw will he start the life
Ba LT detail is important.Its 4000 Angolans (not Angola) to become Zambians.
Enka don’t argue with LT. There could be 4000 little islands off the coast all called Angola and throught the magic of science they will tranform into human beings. Just saying….
Out of 25,000 Angolan refugees in Zambia, only 4,000 have applied for Local integration what does that mean? It only goes to show that these organizations have not done their work. The problem with UNHCR is they have failed to manage Durable Solutions and should give IOM or some other Zambian companies that have qualified staff compared to UNHCR that has employed women that were friends of the bosses.
Well some prefer going back to their country of birth, nothing wrong with that, after all Angola is booming these days!! And the 4000 thousand that applied might regret doing so, sooner or later. Home is where the heart is.
Its normal in this century i just pray that people can live together and in peace after all we are all human beings and the earth is our home, just going outside the box.., i wonder what brought us to divisions in terms of south, North, Zambians, Angolans and what if these are original Zambians whom we have no idea about and those of us calling ourselves Zambians are Asians, Australians who evolved with time?
What if we are fish which was swept away from the ocean and because of scientific effects on the main land we changed to humans? Thats just me again questioning everything in trying to grasp the essence of us assuming to be who and what we are, why we are here and not there? in short trying to make sense of everything.
Factor in the artificial borders erected by the colonialists when they shared Africa among themselves with no regard for the ethnicities of the people they found.
They must go back to their country, period!! Foreigners are getting zambians’ jobs!!
Easy, mate. Broaden your scope and start regarding people as equal human beings with the right to exist wherever they are on this earth.
I do not agree with those who say they must go back. We have enough land and these brethren are hard working. I know how productive they are having lived with them in Western province. They are a great people. Angolans, you are most welcome if our govt approves your applications. It means you love Zambians and appreciate them.
and you still us malawians even after ruling and developing zambia for more than 40 years. you even revock and depot us. f .o .o .l .i .s. h
Yaba, there is too much Zimbabweans intact! Can govment send them back to Kaponyaa #1 aka Robert Mugabe! PLZ
This is all idiocy. What about malawians who enter zambia and integrate themselves in community as zambians. These people only know zambia and their children entered colleges and graduated, were born in zambia too. what the hiccup Lungu. Problem is we have too many dull people in politics, lungu is one dull human being.
We Zambians have always been helpful to neighboring countries even during the liberation struggle but what do we get in return? Zimbabweans who we helped get independence mocked and harassed Zambians who went to that country to buy foodstuffs and other commodities during the late 80’s and early 90’s when our economy was in bad shape. Now today they are back in our country. Similarly South Africans are now becoming hostile towards Zambians. After educating so many Tswana’s the Botswana govt. is now booting out Zambian teachers and other professionals. Now we are at it again giving Angolans citizenship. I doubt if Angola would help Zambia when we are in need!
Those Angolan refegues who have applied to intergrated into Zambian society are productive and will contribute to the well being Zambia. The have been for a wrong time and have lost touch with Angola. Some of them the whole villages were completely uprooted by the warring factions then. They dont know any other home other than Zambia.
just give all of them residency status. they’re our brothers and sisters. zambia and angola are one country just like malawi and zambia are one country. go to nwp and ep and you will prove me right.
Just permit them after all we come from same ancester adam and eve
There is no more WAR in Angola,why should they remain in Zambia? and why not taking them back to their country?
UNHCR is telling lies that only 4,000 refugees have applied. Total camp population is over 8,000 and last year only less than 500 were willing and returned to Angola. So what is the position of the other 3,500. The fact of the matter is that applying for these permits is not free and there are conditions tied. UNHCR should make the application process free for all refugees. Lastly can UNHCR please give more accurate numbers of the total Angolan refugees. We know its to keep their jobs and get donor funding but lets be professional.
This is simply the CONTINUED MIGRATION FROM THE LUBA-LUNDA KINGDOM!!!! Why do we call them refugees??????? Welcome relatives!!!
Good move, lets hope banakashi badibilepo -iminani,,
im beggin zambia goverment to let them to stay in zambia, because these people, they live there long time, this will destroy the future for those who was born in zambia, give them chance plz !!!! i lived 8 years in zambia all my childhood were there, i still hve love for this country ,
In reality Angolans are also zambians from another mother but we’re all from the same father called Africa.Its just an artificial line in the sand that separates us.
Such a blessed Nation! I hope their proud president who wanted to start bombing Zambia hears about this! Nations like the so called GB need to hear and report this good news. Now they have vans in the UK reminding foreigners to go home! Great Britain? No way! It should be Great Zambia!