LUSAKA, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The Zambia-Angola-the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Tripartite Commission has appealed to donors to provide 1.8 million US dollars for the repatriation of Angolan refugees from Zambia.

    The UNHCR has planned to repatriate 40,000 Angolan refugees from Zambia this year, but up to now only 10,000 refugees has returned home.

    The tripartite commission made the appeal after its just-ended fourth meeting, which reviewed the progress made in the voluntary repatriation operation, and agreed to intensify its efforts to assist the Angolan refugees who have already expressed the wish toreturn home this year, according to Zambian media Monday.

    Angola had been ravaged by a civil war after its independence in 1975 till 2002 and 500,000 refugees fled to its neighboring countries as a result. Enditem