AFRICA/ANGOLA - Situation of Angolan refugees forced out of Democratic Republic of the Congo to be presented at the Sixth International Congress of Migration which opens today at the Vatican

Luanda (Agenzia Fides) – The Commission for Migrants of the Bishops' Conference of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe (CEAST) will present the issue of Angolans refugees forced out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Sixth International Congress of Migration, which is being held at the Vatican November 9 to 12 (see Fides 4/11/2009). The coordinator of the Commission, Sister Maria Edir, confirmed this on Radio Ecclesia, stressing the concern of the Church in Angola for the drama.
The conference is organized by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and aims to update the Catholic Church's pastoral response to the phenomenon of migration in this time of globalization.
Among the topics for discussion include "the phenomenon related to urbanization and internal migration"; "a specific response to migrants and young refugees"; "cooperation between the Churches of origin and destination of migrants"; "the urgency of the ecumenical and interreligious cooperation. "
In addition to Sister Edir, Father John Carlos, pastor of the Parish of St. John the Baptist Cazenga also forms part of the Angolan delegation
The religious sister hopes that the Conference will provide a new impulse "to the acceptance and respect for other cultures of which migrants are carriers.”
The situation of Angolan returnees remains dramatic. "The living conditions of IDPs in the border provinces of Angola are extremely difficult," says an official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who points out: “Most of those who were expelled had the refugee status in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The returning refugees were not even able to gather their belongings before leaving the DRC.”
For weeks, relations between Angola and DRC have been tense because of the mutual expulsion of citizens from both countries (see Fides 22/10/2009 and 24/10/2009), the background issue remains that of sharing oil resources in a common area in the Atlantic Ocean. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/11/2009)