There is a significant population of Angolans in Zambia.

Migration history

With

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

's 1964 independence from the British Empire, many members of national liberation movements in neighbouring countries, including

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, found the country a hospitable base for their operations. However, eastern Angola (near the border with Zambia) was less densely populated than the northern region adjacent to

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

); Zaire and not Zambia thus because the primary destination for Angolan refugees in those days. Most of these refugees were of

Balovale Zambezi is a town in the North-Western Province of Zambia, lying on the Zambezi River and the M8 road, west of Kabompo. It is known for the palaces of the chiefs of the Lunda and Lovale The Luvale people, also spelled Lovale, Balovale, Luba ...

ethnicity, an ethnic group also present in Zambia. The Zambian government aimed to move them away from the border; they were settled first at

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

in North-Western Province and in Mayukwayukwa in

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

. Later, due to ethnic tensions, those in Zambezi were transferred to Meheba near

Solwezi Solwezi is a town in Zambia. It is the provincial capital of the mineral-rich North-Western Province. Solwezi is also the administrative capital of Solwezi District, one of the eleven districts in the North-Western Province. Location Solwezi ...

(also in Northwestern Province). The refugee population reached roughly 25,000 by 1972, despite efforts by the Zambian government to control the influx and return new arrivals to Angola. With the onset of the 1975

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

, the number of refugees began to expand, and repatriation efforts also came to a halt. Peace briefly returned to Angola with the 1991

Bicesse Accords The Bicesse Accords, also known as the Estoril Accords, laid out a transition to multi-party democracy in Angola under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II mission. President José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA and Jonas Savimbi of U ...

and brought hope to the government that they could repatriate the refugees, but fighting resumed in 1992, resulting in a new influx. By the end of that year, the number of Angolan refugees had reached 101,779. The number would continue to expand; by 2001, it was estimated that there were 200,000 Angolan refugees in Zambia, making up about 77% of all refugees in the country. Rather than living in refugee camps or finding assistance through government resettlement schemes, many Angolan refugees settled on their own in Zambian villages. In 2002, a peace deal was brokered which ended the war. By 2006, an estimated 63,000 had repatriated to Angola. However, the term "repatriation" itself may be misleading; one study of Angolans in Zambia found that they saw themselves simply as villagers; relocating from their villages in Zambia to Angola was not perceived as going home, but in contrast as ''leaving'' home in search of a better life.

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Migration history

See also

References

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Further reading