LUSAKA, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- About 27 Ethiopian refugees who claimed fleeing the raging civil strife in their country have arrived at Nakonde district in Zambia's Northern province via Malawi on foot, local media reported Friday.
"Twenty-seven Ethiopian refugees have arrived in Nakonde district via Kanyala border post on the Zambia-Malawi border and they are currently being kept at Nakonde police station," districtcommissioner Edwin Sinyinza confirmed to Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS).
Sinyinza said the refugees, who were all males between the agesof 25 and 30 years, arrived in Zambia on Wednesday night after leaving their country in November last year.
Security officers have been immediately dispatched to the area and all the refugees were picked and taken to Nakonde police station, he added.
"Security officers who are still screening these refugees are yet to fully establish why these Ethiopian nationals fled their country and why only male refugees and no females," the commissioner said.
ZANIS cited one of the refugees as reporting that a hundred more refugees are on their way to Zambia.
And Sinyinza said security officers in the border town have been put on high alert to look out the movement of the refugees adding that after being screened they will be taken to refugee camps.
The peaceful southern African country is currently home to about 160,000 refugees from countries like Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and others.
Despite the Zambian government has initiated the voluntary repatriation of refugees under the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 2003, the program is facing setback as many refugees are reluctant to returnhome after staying in Zambia for over ten years. Lack of fund support also made the repatriation staggering.
The UN refugee agency set a budget of 12 million U.S. dollars at the end of last year to cover material and legal assistance to the refugees in Zambia in 2006. Enditem
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