Angolans in Zambia

Angolans in Zambia
Total population
	200,000 (2001) — decreased somewhat due to out-migration since that time
Regions with significant populations
	Zambezi · Mayukwayukwa · Meheba

There is a significant population of Angolans in Zambia.

Migration history

With

North-Western Province and in Mayukwayukwa in Western Province. Later, due to ethnic tensions, those in Zambezi were transferred to Meheba near Solwezi (also in Northwestern Province).^[2] 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.^[3]

With the onset of the 1975 Angolan Civil War, the number of refugees began to expand, and repatriation efforts also came to a halt.^[3] Peace briefly returned to Angola with the 1991 Bicesse Accords 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.^[4] 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.^[5] Rather than living in refugee camps or finding assistance through government resettlement schemes, many Angolan refugees settled on their own in Zambian villages.^[6]

In 2002, a peace deal was brokered which ended the war. By 2006, an estimated 63,000 had repatriated to Angola.^[7] 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.^[8]