11. Zaire
150. Further influxes of refugees from Angola occurring in the course of 1977 brought the total number of refugees in Zaire to an estimated 530,000 by the end of the year, of whom some 500,000 were Angolans. Other groups included 18,000 Rwandese and 11,300 refugees from Burundi, both groups having decreased by comparison with the previous year, owing mainly to voluntary repatriation.
151. UNHCR's assistance to Angolan refugees, located for the most part in Bas-Zaire, had been primarily directed prior to 1977 at meeting their needs in terms of food, health and education, while seeking the most appropriate longer-term solution for them in consultation with the Zairian authorities. However, as the influx of Angolans continued to gain momentum in 1977, it was decided to give priority to measures to enable the refugees to achieve self-sufficiency through their local settlement in agriculture. Two sites were made available by the Government in the latter half of 1977 in the Lukula area in the Bas-Fleuve subregion.
With the Agence internationale de développement rural (AIDR) acting as UNHCR's operational partner, work rapidly began in clearing land, building huts, transporting building materials, constructing provisional schools and a dispensary and providing access to wells. By the end of February 1978 some 4,000 refugees had been established on the new sites, and their number was steadily increasing. Meanwhile, substantial relief assistance was required for new arrivals, mainly in the Cataractes subregion, whose number had reached 60,000 by early March 1978 - many of them women and children deprived of any means of subsistence pending completion of plans for their settlement in agriculture.
152. UNHCR's assistance to refugees from Burundi in 1977 mainly concerned further development of the Mutambala settlement in the Kivu province, where over 2,000 refugees are being settled. This assistance, also implemented by AIDR, comprised initial distribution of food, tools and basic equipment, completion of class- rooms and a dispensary, development of a road network and improvement of the water supply. Continued assistance, mainly in the fields of education and health, was also given by UNHCR to groups of refugees in Kivu province who remained outside the Mutambala settlement.
153. Individual refugees, mainly in urban areas of Zaire, were provided by UNHCR with specific assistance such as food, clothing, medical care, vocational training, or aid towards establishment in trade, as appropriate. Educational grants for courses at various levels were made to refugee students from Burundi and Rwanda.
154. An amount of nearly $2 million was expended by UNHCR under its General Programmes in Zaire, of which $1.2 million was for assistance to Angolan refugees, supplemented by substantial donations of food. $652,000 was made available for the Mutambala settlement for refugees from Burundi. Under the Special Programmes, expenditure from the Education Account totalled some $141,000.
12. Zambia
155. There was a continuing influx of refugees, mainly Zimbabweans, into Zambia during 1977. According to government estimates the total refugee population numbered some 64,000, including 29,700 Angolans, some 30,000 Zimbabweans, 2,700 Namibians, and smaller groups of South Africans, Zairians and gandans.
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