July 2001 Africa News Headlines

Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - Web posted at 11:34:06 GMT

Zambia's rising crime rate blamed on influx of refugees

LUSAKA - Armed crime is on the rise in Zambia because of the influx of refugees, mainly from the war-torn Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), police said yesterday.

Most refugees who flee wars in the neighbouring countries enter Zambia with weapons which they later sell to criminals or sometimes exchange with food, police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba told AFP.

"Our investigations have revealed that most of the arms being used in robbery cases come with refugees," Kajoba said.

The police have intensified the screening of refugees entering Zambia in a bid to reduce the high number of illicit arms on the streets, Kajoba said.

Guns can be sold by refugees for as little as 50 000 kwacha (about US$13), he added.

Zambian police are also running an amnesty exercise where citizens with illegal arms can surrender the weapons to police without penalty.

"Some people have surrendered some of the weapons, though we are still having problems with the continuous influx of refugees who come with arms,"Kajoba said.

Zambia is home to about 250 000 refugees, mostly from Angola and the DRC, which share frontiers with Zambia. - Nampa-Sapa-AFP

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