AFRICANEWS
ZambiaWho cares for refugees?Refugeesby Johnson Siamachira
War-weary refugees, who have lost virtually everything except their lives, say their future is uncertain. Groups of unaccompanied children between the ages of 5 and 18 are wasting their time. They cannot go to school, they do not learn any skill, they know nothing else but war. Back in their countries, schools and health facilities have been vandalised and destroyed. Aid officials and political experts in Zambia say even if peace holds now, the repatriation of the refugees could be difficult to undertake since most of them do not want to go back home for fear of renewed violence, and because they think it is impossible to acquire residential and farming lands. Some say they would find their wives married to other men. Almost half of the refugees, estimated to be 2,453, are 9-18 year old boys who will find it difficult to trace their parents and relatives. Former soldiers of the late President Mobutu are almost unlikely to be integrated into civilian life. These are the same people who, aid agencies say, could easily resort to violence and robberies. There are also reports that some refugees returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been harassed and/or jailed on arrival. "The situation is really bad," said a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) official based at Kasama, 40 kilometers from Natende Camp. The borderline of Zambia's NorthernProvince is also experiencing a different type of activity. Present in Kasama are former Mobutu soldiers whose survival is currently being assured by the Zambia government. Pressure for both the UNHCR and the local charity, the Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS), to be involved is growing. Refugees have been crossing into Zambia since the late 1996 as a result of civil strife in former Zaire, which propelled Laurent Kabila, now, President, into power. And while Southern Africa was hoping for a region free of refugees, the scourge is ever increasing, as evidenced by those in Zambia. Like other non-governmental organisations working with refugees in that country, the ZRCS has had to revise its strategy. The organisation has been involved in this refugee operation from the start with financial support from the UNHCR. When the number of refugees increased, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, an international organisation which works to prevent and alleviate human suffering i n the event of natural or man made disasters, also provided support through its Great Lakes Region Operation. Despite a successful appeal for funding from international donors, it is proving difficult to provide most of the basic necessities at the camp, especially shelter and sanitation. The refugees receive one kilogramme of maize, beans, vegetables, oil and salt per person per day. Still, the food rations are not enough for people who arrived with nothing for themselves. "Most of these refugees have very little educational or political knowledge. They have known violence for too long. Others have vague ideas on what people were fighting for in the first place," says a Red Cross Project Co-ordinator, Jack Ndemera. In addition, the hopes for a peaceful "home going" among the refugees, mostly of peasant origin, have turned to despair, as there are reports that it was difficult for those who tried to go back to integrate into civilian life due to lack of material and financial resources. Fourteen year old Godefroid Amani who lost both his parents during the civilian strife said he did not understand why he had to be kept in a camp "with no food".In February last year, he and his parents fled Uvira in the DRC. The parents were killed while crossing the mountains, and many others died of exhaustion. Godefroid has nothing left for him, not even identity particulars. He is confused. Most of his colleagues refuse to talk to strangers. It is a tragic tale of young children who have survived a brutal war and are still uncertain about their future. Even as things seem to settle down in DRC, there is increasing apprehension among the refugees. The on-going instability in the Great Lakes Region could alsolead to more refugees seeking assistance in Zambia.
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