REFUGEES IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP84-00825R000100540001-6
Release Decision:
RIFPUB
Original Classification:
C
Document Page Count:
8
Document Creation Date:
November 17, 2016
Document Release Date:
February 4, 2000
Sequence Number:
1
Case Number:
Publication Date:
October 1, 1968
Content Type:
IM
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Confidential
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
Refugees in Africa South of the Sahara
Confidential
GROUP I
EXCLUDED
AHD Df L~3SIfC'~IOM RGRAUIRG
October 1968
CIA/BGI GM 69-1
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Refugees in Africa South of the Sahara
There are about 3 million refugees in 19 countries of
Africa south of the Sahara. Some 2 million are clearly
identifiable as refugees; another million or more have
been lost among the local population. Although the
refugees have evoked little international concern, they
present serious regional problems. In addition to creat-
ing an immediate need for food and shelter, these large
groups of dislocated people contribute to the chronic
ethnic and economic turmoil in the region.
Population statistics in Africa are notoriously poor, and
refugee data are no exception. The movements of
refugees frequently are not recorded, and available fig-
ures may be weighted for political purposes. Refugees
in camps may be counted, but others who live with rela-
tives or in the bush are lost for statistical purposes.
Additional uncertainties stem from the lack of effective
controls on movement, both internal and external, in
most of the newly independent countries and from the
migratory habits of many people in underdeveloped
lands. The exact point at which a migrant herder or
agriculturist becomes a "refugee" in the true sense of
the word is also questionable.
Refugees in Africa south of the Sahara, as elsewhere in
the world, have generally been the product of political
conflicts that caused them to flee their homes and seek
safety in another country. When they reach areas of
asylum their plight often is desperate because they have
a minimum of personal belongings and need food, shelter,
and medical care. These problems are least severe when
the host country is able to integrate the new arrivals
into the indigenous population. A number of other
problems can be reduced or averted altogether if the
refugees are settled away from the border of their native
country. This prevents the refugee community from
harboring rebels who operate in the home country and
then flee to safety in the border area of the country of
asylum, as has occurred in Burundi and Uganda. Coun-
tries that have worked hardest to establish settlements
away from the border, with varying degrees of success,
are Uganda, the Central African Republic, and Tan-
zania.
Outside aid is required when the number of refugees
coming into a country or moving from one part of a
country to another is too great for the economy to
absorb. Most of the African countries with refugees
have needed assistance and are now cooperating with
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and various voluntary relief groups in order
to settle the refugees and give them a new life.
The accompanying map and table summarize avail-
able information on refugee movements in 29 of the
countries of Africa south of the Sahara. The circum-
stances of refugee movement and the relief efforts that
have been made in the 11 countries for which informa-
tion is available are discussed below.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)
[Congo (K) ] affords asylum to the largest refugee popu-
lation in Africa. In spite of recurrent internal strife and
resultant severe problems since independence, refugees
have fled to the Congo (K) from Angola (including
This memorandum was produced by CIA. It was prepared by
the Office of Basic and Geographic Intelligence and coordinated
with the Office of Current Intelligence.
Cabinda), Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia, and the Republic
of Congo (Brazzaville) [Congo (B)]. Concentrations
of refugees are largest along the Angolan border in the
southwest and the Sudanese border in the northeast.
Angolans: Angolans, who constitute the largest refugee
group in the Congo (K), started to arrive in the south-
west in 1959. Their actual numbers cannot be deduced
from the population of the refugee camps, since Angolans
consider themselves tribal brothers of the Congolese in
western Congo (K) and mix readily with them. The
refugee population given in the table and on the map
therefore is only an estimate.
An active insurgency against Angola is directed by
some Angolan refugees based in southwestern Congo
(K). Over 20 Angolan nationalist groups are involved,
among the largest of them being the Governo da Re-
publica Angolana em Exilio (Republican Government of
Angola in Exile)-GRAE-and its action arm, the
Frente Nacional de Libertacao de Angola (National
Front for the Liberation of Angola)-FNLA. Although
GRAE claims to represent the African population of
Angola, the majority of the Angolan refugees in south-
west Congo (K) want nothing to do with insurgency,
and GRAE efforts to recruit and otherwise "politicize"
refugees have led to considerable disgruntlement. The
Congo (K) Government has not gone out of its way to
dissuade the nationalist groups from political activity
directed against the Portuguese, for fear of detracting
from its African nationalist standing.
Some friction is developing between Angolan refugees
and the local population among whom they live. In re-
sponse to a request of the Central Government, village
chiefs have parceled out land to the refugees. In re-
turn, however, a number of chiefs have demanded up
to half of the land's earnings. The refugees resent this
landlord-tenant relationship, and the Congolese are
jealous of the relatively good return the refugees are
extracting from the land. At the present rate of crop-
ping, the land being trilled by the refugees will be ex-
hausted in 2 or 3 years; a greater land problem may
then be created.
Sudanese: Sudanese people comprise the second
largest group of refugees in the Congo (K) and have
been crossing into the northeastern part of the country
since 1961. They have no camps and are widely scat-
tered along the border. Sudan would like to have the
refugees moved away from the border, because of the
fear that they may include Anya-Nya rebels* who oper-
ate against the Sudanese authorities in southern Sudan,
but the Congo (K) has not attempted to clear the
border areas.
Rwandans: The Rwandans, who began arriving in
1959, were mainly Tutsi tribesmen fleeing from hostile
Hutus. Their two original settlements at Bibwe and
Ihula have multiplied to at least nine settlements.
In 1964, tribal unrest in the eastern Congo (K)
prompted the Government to issue an order expelling
all aliens from that region. About half of the refugees
from Rwanda and many Congolese nationals fled to
Uganda. The expulsion order was lifted when the dis-
turbance died down, and many of these people have
since returned to the Congo (K).
" The Anya-Nya rebels are Christian and pagan tribesmen From
the three southern provinces of Sudan who oppose the Moslem-
Arab government of Sudan and consider themselves patriots in the
tradition of Jorno Kenyatta. Some expound pro-Christian, pro-
white views. The Sudanese authorities have had little success in
suppressing them.
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LwinWRI
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Confidential
Confidential
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SPANISH
SAHARA* ALGERIA
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NOUAKCHOTT
SENEGAL
GAMBIA
PORTff
5,000-6,000' ' NOVO LAGO
SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
app: O, ~
ACCRA LOME
SAO TOME E PRINCIPE-
(PORT.) I""~
NIGER
CHAD
BANGUIO
REP.
LIBREVILLE OF
GABON
BRAZZAVILLE
200
4,000-5,000 KINSHASA
Cabinda. _ Mao A
ESTIMATES OF REFUGEES
IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA
Country of Asylum
Refugees
Country of Origin
Angola (including
Cabinda)
2,000
Zambia
Botswana .......
3,500
South-West Africa
200
Angola
200
Rhodesia
200
South Africa
50,000-60,000
Rwanda
25,000
Congo (K)
Cameroon .......
200
Nigeria
Central African Re-
27,000-28,000
Sudan
public
More than 16,000
Congo (K)
Congo (K) .......
469,000-513,000
Angola (including
Cabinda)
30,000-40,000
Sudan
24,000-25,000
Rwanda
19,000
Zambia
200
Congo (B)
16,000
Niger
2,000
Nigeria
Ethiopia ........
20,000
Sudan
Ivory Coast ......
200,000b
Guinea
Malawi .........
18,000-20,000
Mozambique
Rwanda ........
2,600
Burundi
Senegal ........
57,000
Guinea
50,000
Portuguese Guinea
2,000-3,000
Ethiopia
5,000
Kenya
Sudan ..........
24,000
Ethiopia
Tanzania .......
13,000
Mozambique
12,000-13,000
Rwancla
9,000
Congo (K)
Togo ...........
5,000-6,000
Ghana
Uganda ........
68,000-70,000
Rwancla
64,500
Sudan
34,000-35,000
Conga (K)
3,000-5,000
Angola
2,000-3,000
Mozambique
2,000
Congo (K)
O* LUANDA
7,
3,000
WALVIS BAY;
(REP. OF S. AF.)
3,500
SO
Nigeria has 1 to 2 million internal refugees, mainly people
of the Ibo tribe who fled from the north and west into the
eastern part of Nigeria that is now known as Biafra.
"This figure includes an undetermined number of transient
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ANGOLA
(PORT.)
SOUTH-WEST
AFRICA
(INT'L. TERR.)
OWINDHOEK
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RED
SEA
KHARTOUM (R
SUDAN
?Mokambo
Lake
Tana
)jalle?
kFRICAN
1LIC27,000-28,000
Mobaye /
16,000+
,MOCRATIC
'EPUBLIC
OF THE
CONGO
e
00
00
?5,000
?Lwatembo Nyimba
ZAMBIA ?
2,0:0 OLUSAKA**4W 2,000-3,000
Mayukwayukwa
Kariba Lake
SALISBURY?
RHODESIA
(U. K.)
20,000
?Garnbela
,24,000
Kassala.
DAR ES SALAAM
Lake
Nyasa
Lake
Rudo/I
5,000
KENYA
ONAIROBI
~ undo
*Ndecha
?Likoma 10,000;
!Chisumulu 3,000
18,000-20,000
MALAWI
jort Johnston
&ZOMBA
MOZAMBIQUE
(PORT.)
R '200
GABERONES$
t_^w ?PRETORIA
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MBABANEp ,.~.
SWAZILAND
MASERU
LESOTHO
Rwamawania UGANDA
IbLogke Kahunge -\ \ KAMPALA
Edward Lake
34,000-35,000 ` yako Victona
Koboko? ? Patang~
Gulu
9,000 vcc L'c'
1'_Mwesi
Lake ?Pweto
Mweru
?
2,000 Chipungu
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OADDIS ABABA
YEMEN
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G
~ANA
50J~N~~N
'f 9MADTNAT
ASH SHA'B
DJIBOUTI
.~
2,000-3,000
SOMALIA
INDIAN OCEAN
? Refugee settlement(s)
+ Direction of refugee movement
24,000-25,000
STATUTE MILES
o Soo
CONFIDENTIAL
r MALAGASY
ZREPUBLIC
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left in the north, although some 30,000 remain in Lagos.
Intensification of the civil war has displaced large num-
bers of people, and several hundred thousand persons in
eastern Nigeria are now refugees or displaced persons.
About 1,000 Biafran children have been airlifted to
Gabon, and some have been flown to Sao Tome. More
may go to the Ivory Coast.
The most active relief agency in Africa south of the
Sahara is the office of the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In addition to pro-
viding direct aid to refugees, this office coordinates the
efforts of numerous privately funded national and inter-
national relief organizations. In the late 1950's and early
1960's, host countries provided basic relief to destitute
refugees, but as the number of refugees increased, local
resources were strained and the host countries became
unable to cope with the problem. Aid in the form of
materiel and coordination was first requested of the
United Nations by the Congo (K) in 1961.
Refugee relief programs vary considerably from court-
try to country. Some countries prefer a UNHCR relief
operation and resettlement program supported by local
agencies. Other countries prefer to operate through
local agencies with support from UNHCR and other out-
side organizations. In countries that have no coordi-
nated program the UNHCR and other groups work out
their programs as best they can. Of first priority in
refugee relief programs are basic food and shelter. When
it becomes clear that people cannot return to their homes,
attempts are made to facilitate permanent settlement in
the host country.
There are many gaps in information on relief activities
in Africa south of the Sahara, particularly on activities
of privately sponsored European and African organiza-
tions. The following is a summary of available in-
formation.
In the Congo (K) there is no overall administration
of refugee relief. Most relief work is carried out by
UNHCR, which provides financial assistance, and by
various voluntary agencies. Angolan refugees are as-
sisted by a number of religious missions and other vol-
untary agencies such as the Catholic Relief Services and
the International Rescue Committee. Sudanese refu-
gees benefit from a program administered by the Congo
Protestant Relief Agency, with food provided by the
Church World Service and the Catholic Relief Services;
the American Baptist Relief also aids Sudanese refugees.
Rwandese refugees are receiving aid from the Integra-
tion and Zonal Development Project of the International
Labor Organization (ILO) ; the Catholic Relief Services
are donating food, clothing, and medicines.
The government of Uganda has taken responsibility
for the settlement of refugees and has implemented
refugee programs through the Ministry of Culture and
Community Development. It has received considerable
financial assistance from UNHCR. The Seventh-Day
Adventist Welfare Service, Unitarian Universalist Service
Committee, and World Neighbors are also active in
Uganda.
The government of Senegal, through its Red Cross and
with the cooperation of the French and Swiss Red Cross
societies, administers the health aspects of refugee relief.
Financial assistance has been provided by UNHCR, and
medical supplies have been contributed by the French
and British Governments, the Oxford Committee for
Famine Relief (OXFAM), and the African Institute of
New York.
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The Burundi relief program is carried out by the Gov-
ernment through the International Association for Rural
Development Overseas. In addition to UNHCR, the
following agencies participate: the World Food Program,
ILO, French Fonds d'Aide et de Cooperation (Aid and
Cooperation Fund), OXFAM, American Baptist Relief,
and Church World Service.
The government of the Central African Republic ad-
ministers local relief programs, the League of Red Cross
Societies coordinates international aid, and UNHCR con-
tributes financial aid. The World Food Program,
OXFAM, World Council of Churches, Catholic Relief
Services, and other Protestant and Catholic missionary
groups work among the refugees and coordinate their
efforts with the Government, the Red Cross, and
UNHCR.
In Tanzania, refugee relief programs are carried out
under agreement between the government of Tanzania,
Lutheran World Service, Tanganyika Christian Refugee
Service, and UNHCR. The Catholic Relief Services,
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), British Red Cross; OXFAM, Swedish
Churches, World Council of Churches, and World Food
Program also are, or have been, active in refugee relief
in Tanzania.
Although Ethiopia has refused to permit UNHCR to
aid Sudanese refugees, the Presbyterian missions in
Ethiopia are permitted to work among them and to pro-
vide food, clothing, and medical supplies. The Sudanese
Government resents Presbyterian aid and is pressuring
Ethiopia to stop it, because the Presbyterians are sus-
pected of educating leaders of the Anya-Nya rebels and
of otherwise encouraging the rebels.
Malawi has not requested UNHCR aid, but it has
asked the Church World Service, under the general
auspices of the World Council of Churches and the All
Africa Christian Conference, to design a refugee relief
program. The program involves village improvement,
grants for medical aid, and establishment of mobile
medical facilities and of agricultural development
projects.
The refugee relief program in Zambia is administered
by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Lutheran World
Federation is coordinating the program, and UNHCR
is providing financial assistance.
In 1966 Rwanda requested UNHCR aid for the Hutu
refugees from Burundi. UNHCR responded, as did the
Catholic Relief Services, with clothing, food, and medical
supplies. The few refugees who have not returned to
Burundi apparently have settled among the indigenous
population and are no longer in need of aid.
UNHCR does not operate in Nigeria, because refugees
must cross international boundaries to qualify for
UNHCR aid, and disagreement and distrust between
leaders of Nigeria and Biafra are preventing the free
flow of private relief aid. Apparently, church groups
and other voluntary agencies are still active in the area,
but their efforts are hampered by the animosity of the
Nigerian military. Among these private groups are the
Assemblies of God Foreign Service Committee, Catholic
Relief Services, Church World Service, Unitarian Uni-
versalist Service Committee, World Neighbors, and Men-
nonite Central Committee. The aid effort is being co-
ordinated by the International Committee for the Red
Cross (ICRC).
An official of ICRC believes that as many as 4 million
refugees and natives in Biafra are in need. Malnutri-
tion and disease are causing many deaths in the camps,
especially among children, and many more will die of
starvation before relief is distributed to them.
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The most recent influx of refugees into the Societies placed
Congo (K) has come from members of the Lumpa, or Muramba, Kayongozi, and Kigamba.
Lenshina, Church who. fled the harsh Zambian suppres- Other Rwandans entered Burundi from the Congo
sion of their cult in mid-1965. The cult had preached (K). In the summer of 1964, when trouble broke out
against obedience to the Zambian Government and had in eastern Congo (K), thousands of Rwandans who had
fought with its nonbelieving neighbors. Repeatedly settled there between 1959 and 1962 fled into Burundi.
Zambia has attempted to woo the Lumpas back into To care for those who wished to remain in Burundi, the
Zambia, and occasionally the Congo (K) has tried to refugee settlement of Mugera was established near the
convince them to leave, but they have stubbornly re- Burundi-Tanzania border.
fused to return to their homeland and were still filtering
into the Congo as of mid-1968.
Uganda
Uganda has received refugees from Rwanda, Sudan,
and the Congo (K). Most of those from Rwanda came
during the Hutu-Tutsi wars in Rwanda; another wave
came after they were expelled from the Congo (K) in
1964. The Rwandans have little hope of going home
and have settled in camps established for them.
The Sudanese, fleeing from the civil war in southern
Sudan, began entering Uganda in 1962 and 1963 and
settled along the border. In mid-1966, in an effort to
resettle them away from the border, Uganda moved
several thousand Sudanese from the area of Koboko,
near the Uganda-Sudan-Congo (K) boundary, to a new
refugee camp in north-central Uganda 18 miles south-
west of the town of Patango. This movement did not
clear the border area of all refugees, since many were
living with relatives and others took to the bush. Be-
cause of the ease of movement in the border area,
Uganda probably will never be able to remove all of
the refugees.
Congolese migration has constantly fluctuated, with
large numbers of refugees fleeing into Uganda during
times of strife and most of them going home after the
fighting ended. The Congolese prefer to settle along the
border in anticipation of someday returning to the
Congo (K). Attempts to resettle them away from the
border have not been entirely successful.
Senegal
Most of the refugees in Senegal entered the country
between January 1960 and December 1965 and settled
among the local people near the southern border. The
refugees are about equally divided between nationals
from Guinea and from Portuguese Guinea; little in-
formation is available, however, on those from Guinea.
The movement from Portuguese Guinea began in 1960,
but most refugees came in waves which totaled 30,000
from May to July 1964 and about 20,000 from April
to June 1965.
Burundi
Burundi, which is one of the most densely populated
countries in Africa, shelters some 75,000 to 85,000 refu-
gees from the Congo (K) and Rwanda. Congolese
began entering Burundi in the spring and summer of
1964. Subsequent crossing and recrossing of the border
have occurred with the changing political stability of
the Congo (K). Most Congolese refugees live in tem-
porary shelters in the Ruzizi Valley near Chibitoke Mis-
sion and the city of Bujumbura. Few, if any, have been
placed in permanent refugee settlements.
Rwandese Tutsi refugees began entering northern
Burundi in 1959 in an effort to escape the Hutu, who
had revolted against them. Until then the Tutsi had
been the ruling tribe in Rwanda. By 1961, when
Rwanda received its independence, there was a whole-
sale exodus of Tutsi to Burundi. In early 1962 it was
apparent that the Tutsi could not return to Rwanda, so
the Burundi Government and the League of Red Cross
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As of early 1967 the Muramba, Kayongozi, and
Kigamba refugee camps contained approximately 19,000
Rwandan refugees; the Mugera camp sheltered 27,300;
and the remaining Rwandans resided among the general
population.
The majority of Rwandan refugees are not politically
motivated. Burundi, however, is concerned lest the
refugees shelter rebels operating in Rwanda. The
Burundi Government has announced that it will not
permit rebels who attack Rwanda to withdraw back
into Burundi.
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) shelters large
numbers of refugees from the Congo (K) and Sudan.
Both groups began coming into the CAR about 1964.
The influx of Congolese refugees began in August
1964 when 3,000 people of the Azande tribe crossed the
border into the areas of Bangassou and Mobaye. The
number continued to increase, and as of July 1967 about
16,000 Congolese had settled in these areas. A band of
Simbas* began attacks along the Congo (K)-CAR border
during August 1967 and soon controlled 100 miles of
border territory. This started another exodus from the
Congo (K), and an undetermined number of Congolese
have since come into the CAR.
Refugees from southern Sudan began entering the
CAR in 1964 and settled in the general area of Bambouti,
in the extreme southeast. A few hundred settled at Obo,
60 miles from the border. During 1965, a wave of 17,000
to 18,000 additional Sudanese sought refuge near Bam-
bouti and Obo. Since 1965 the number of refugees has
risen to 27,000 or 28,000, and the migration will prob-
ably go on as long as the fighting continues. Reception
and settlement of the Sudanese in the CAR have been
greatly facilitated by the fact that most of them are of
the Azande tribe and speak the same language as the
Central Africans of the Bambouti and Obo areas.
The presence of Sudanese refugees along the border is
causing friction between the CAR and Sudan. The
CAR, under Sudanese pressure, agreed to move the
refugees away from the Bambouti section of the border
by January 1967. Plans to resettle them in the area of
Mboki, on the Obo-Zemio road, were approved but were
not effected until early 1967, after a Sudanese commando
unit had entered the CAR and shot several refugees for
alleged support of Anya-Nya rebels. By the end of
July 1967, 10,000 refugees had been moved to the Mboki
area, another 10,000 had gone into the Congo (K) to
the vicinity of Doruma, and about 6,000 were hiding in
the bush near Bambouti waiting to harvest their crops.
Most of the refugees who fled to the Congo (K) have
now returned and are resettled near Bambouti; 2,000
have also returned from the camp at Mboki. The situa-
tion is quiet, but the CAR is anxiously attempting, with-
out much success, to relocate the refugees away from the
border. The CAR Army was to enforce movements
away from the border areas in 1968 after crops had been
harvested.
* The term "Simba" generally refers to renegade bands of boys
12 to 14 years of age who roam the countryside looting and killing.
Although poorly organized, they can operate because the area has
no reliable security forces.
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Tanzania
Tanzania has received refugees from Mozambique,
Rwanda, and the Congo (K).
Mozambicans: In October 1964, refugees from the
Makonde tribe of northern Mozambique began arriving
in Tanzania. The tribe has traditionally resisted Por-
tuguese authority and in recent years has cooperated
with anti-Portuguese rebels operating out of Tanzania.
By the end of 1964 the refugees numbered 10,000 and
had been moved 85 miles north of the border to the
vicinity of Rutamba.
Early in 1966, approximately 3,000 members of the
Wanyanja tribe, fleeing from fighting between anti-
Portuguese rebels and the Portuguese military, entered
Tanzania and settled among members of the Tanzania
branch of their own tribe on the shores of Lake Nyasa.
Tanzanian authorities have moved them away from the
border to two camps near the shores of Lake Nyasa--
Lundo and Ndecha-and to a camp near Rutamba.
Rwandans: Refugees from Rwanda began to arrive in
Tanzania in 1959. They were members of the Tutsi
tribe forced from Rwanda by the Hutu-Tutsi conflict.
These refugees are sheltered in two main reception
centers-one at Muyenzi and one at Karagwe, near the
northern portion of the Rwanda-Tanzania border.
Others are in the Ngara camp near the Burundi border
and in the Mwesi camp near Lake Tanganyika.
Congolese (K): The first 2,000 Congolese (K) refugees
arrived in Tanzania in 1964-65 during the uprising in
the eastern part of the Congo (K). In 1965 Tanzania
gave them a choice of settling on land 200 miles from the
border or of returning to the Congo (K), and about 1,500
returned home. Since 1965, however, many refugees
have filtered across the border into Tanzania, swelling
the number of Congolese refugees in Tanzania to about
9,000.
Ethiopia
A disagreement between Sudan and Ethiopia over
refugees from the Sudan is an exception to the general
spirit of cooperation among African nations in refugee
matters. Some 20,000 members of the Sudanese Nu.er
and Annuak tribes who are encamped near Gambela,
Ethiopia, are the subject of the dispute. Ethiopia has
refused to recognize them as refugees, claiming that they
are Ethiopian citizens and as such are Ethiopia's internal
problem. In fact, the nationality of many of these peo-
ple is difficult to determine, as they are mainly nomadic
and have traditionally crossed and recrossed the Sudan-
Ethiopian border freely.
The obdurate attitude of the Ethiopian Government is
based on several factors of self-interest: (1) Ethiopia
wants the tribesmen to settle and develop the Gambela
district, (2) some income is derived by Ethiopian taxes
on the large herds of cattle brought in by the Nuers, (3)
the presence of Christian and Pagan people swells the
number of non-Moslems in Ethiopia, and (4) the Su-
danese refugees can be used to goad Sudan in the same
manner that some 24,000 Ethiopian refugees now near
Kassala, Sudan, are being used to support Eritrean aspira-
tions for independence. The question of the refugees
remains a delicate issue with both governments.
Malawi
Malawi provides asylum for an estimated 18,000 to
20,000 refugees from Mozambique, most of whom belong
to the following four tribal groups that traditionally live
in areas straddling the border: (1) the Nyanja tribe,
whose refugees have moved from the Mozambique shore
of Lake Nyasa to Likoma and Chisumulu islands, (21)
the Lomwe tribe, which has settled along the southwest-
ern border of Malawi, (3) the Ngoni tribe, whose refu-
CIA-RDP84-00825R000100540001-6
gees live among their tribal brothers in southwestern
Malawi, and (4) the Yao tribe, which has settled at the
southern end of Lake Nyasa around the town of Fort
Johnston.
Zambia
Zambia has received refugees from Angola, Mo-
zambique, the Congo (K), South Africa, South-West
Africa, Malawi, and Rhodesia. The Angolan refugees
began entering Zambia in December 1967, in an attempt
to escape fighting between the Portuguese Army and the
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA). Refugees arriving from Mozambique in about
1966 were also fleeing from fighting between insurgent
forces and the Portuguese Army in Mozambique. The
Congolese refugees entered Zambia during June and
July 1967, from the vicinity of Pweto, at the northern
end of Lake Mweru. They were fleeing persecution by
the Congolese Army resulting from their tribe's opposi-
tion to General Mobutu and refusal to support him in
the 1967 referendum. A few have since returned to the
Congo (K). Refugees from South Africa, South-West
Africa, Malawi, and Rhodesia are few and are mostly
students seeking a better education; they are not in-
cluded in the table and on the map.
Many refugees are living in camps established by the
Zambian Government. Most of the Angolan refugees
are found in two refugee camps-the Lwatembo camp
near the city of Balovale and the Mayukwayukwa camp
in the southwest. Mozambique refugees are accommo-
dated mostly in the Nyimba camp, 20 to 25 miles north
of the Mozambique-Zambia border; a few are living in
villages or in the bush. Congolese refugees have settled
in a camp at Chipungu and in nearby villages.
Rwanda
Rwanda has a small permanent refugee population of
2,600 Hutu from Burundi. The Hutu fled Burundi in
early 1966 after government harassment of them because
of their political allegiance. As many as 25,000 may
have gone to Rwanda, but most of them have since
retured to Burundi.
In late summer of 1967, during the occupation of
Bukavu, Congo (K), by mercenaries and the consequent
fighting, 25,000 to 40,000 Congolese fled to Rwanda and
camped along the Rwanda-Congo (K) border. Most of
them returned to the Congo (K) immediately after the
fighting ceased, probably in early 1968.
Nigeria
Nigeria's internal refugees are predominantly Ibo peo-
ple who have returned from northern and western
Nigeria to their homeland in the east. The better edu-
cated Ibos, while living in the north and west, occupied
many position in industry, commerce, and government
and were strongly resented by the Moslem Hausa/Fulani
people. The murder of leading Hausa/Fulani religious
and political figures by a group of primarily Ibo army
officers in January 1966 and the subsequent establishment
of an Ibo-dominated military government triggered a
retaliatory countercoup by northern Hausa army officers
in July 1966. In the following September and October,
7,000 to 10,000 Ibos were massacred in northern Nigeria.
Surviving Ibos swarmed out of the north and west in
fear of their lives. Eastern Nigeria declared itself the
independent Republic of Biafra in May 1967, and in
July the Nigerian federal government mounted military
operations to halt the secession.
More than 1 million people have entered Biafra in
the last 24 months. A reliable count is elusive, since
the number of Ibos living outside Biafra before Sep-
tember 1966 has never been established. Few Ibos are
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