DRC refugees could go back by this weekend, officials say

More than 1,000 Congolese refugees sent fleeing into northern Zambia earlier this month by renewed fighting near the border could return home by this weekend, Zambian officials told IRIN. "According to our reports, these Congolese citizens - about 1,038 - fled following threats from the Mayi-Mayi [rebels] that they would blow up their villages by 30 March, and there were skirmishes in the villages bordering Lake Maweru [between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and northern Zambia]," Zambia's Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Kennedy Sakeni told IRIN on Wednesday. "Some of these people [the refugees] have also claimed that their children, aged between 10 to 15 years, were being targeted by the Congolese army. The soldiers suspect children of that age to be members of the Mayi-Mayi, who normally recruit such young people," he said. Citing reports received on Wednesday, he said, "We have had no reports of any skirmishes on the DRC side, so we expect the fleeing Congolese to go back by this weekend." The DRC refugees crossed to Kilwa island on Lake Maweru from villages located between the southeastern DRC towns of Pweto and Kasenga in Katanga Province. The island, located in the Zambian portion of the lake, is about an hour by boat from the DRC border. Zambia's Commissioner for Refugees, Jacob Mhepo, told IRIN: "Kilwa island is very near the Congolese border and it is very easy for them to go back. Since the skirmishes began earlier this month, the numbers of people seeking refuge has constantly changed. Initially, about a 1,000 sought refuge on the island. When it quietened down a bit on the DRC side, the figure was reduced to 700 and then to 300 - so we believe that they are seeking temporary refuge." He pointed out that none of the Congolese on Kilwa island had crossed the lake to the nearest Zambian border post at Nchilenge. "If they were refugees they would have approached the town, as the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] camp for Congolese refugees is located only about 80 km from that town. I have not received any reports of any of these Congolese having made their way to the border post," Mhepo explained. Security on the island is being monitored by the District Joint Operations Committee, comprising representatives from all the security forces. UN agencies are providing the Congolese with food. The Mayi-Mayi grew out of the turmoil of the DRC conflict in the 1990s. Mayi-Mayi rebels in Katanga Province, which shares a border with Zambia, are still awaiting integration into the DRC army under the terms of the country's peace accord.