Luanda – At least 52,659 citizens of various nationalities are in Angola, under international protection, including refugees and asylum seekers, revealed Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Esmeralda Mendonça.
According to the official, who was speaking in the 73rd session of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Executive Board, out of the 52,659 citizens, 22,526 are refugees and 30,133 are asylum seekers, most of them are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (37%), Conakry Guinean (17%), Ivorians (12%) and Mauritanians (11%).
Speaking in the first meeting of the 73rd session of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Esmeralda Mendonça said also that in accordance with the Angolan law, the citizens benefit from protection and social care, which includes access to medical and pharmaceutical assistance, water, basic sanitation, education, protection to woman against domestic abuse, among other benefits with the objective to easy the adaptation and integration into Angolan society.
The Angolan representative explained that during the third quarter of 2022, there were extended statements by asylum seekers and issued passports for refugees. Esmeralda Mendonça said also that its foreseen for the fourth quarter to start a programme for granting residence permits, local integration and the general registration of refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
To her, the Angolan State is committed to eliminating statelessness by implementing various programmes aimed at universalising legal identity in order to allow all citizens living in the national territory and Angolans living abroad to have necessary documents so that they can fully exercise their rights.
“Actions are being carried out aiming at birth registration and attribution of identity cards to all citizens, as well as the expansion of civil registration and criminal identification services nationwide. These services are already implemented in the municipalities and some communes”, added the secretary of State.
Within the framework of materialising this programme of the Angolan Government, Esmeralda Mendonça clarified that from March 2020 to September 2022 were implemented Civilian Identification Posts abroad which allowed the issuance and delivery of 30,302 identity cards to Angolans living in the diaspora.
During the session the representative recalled that Angola recently requested its membership of the UNHCR Executive Council and that it is awaiting a favourable decision on his application.
She reiterated Angola´s support to UNHCR´s leadership, in the implementation of the current mandate and the essential partnership, within the framework of international protection in refugee countries.
In addition, the secretary of State spoke about the joint border mobility Project signed in December in 2021 by Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which will strengthen the peaceful coexistence of populations and improve border security between both countries.
The 73rd session of the UNHCR Executive Board takes place in Geneva from 10 to 14 October under the guidance of its High Commissioner, Filippo Grandi, re-elected for a new two and a half year term.
The secretary of State for Foreign Affairs heads the Angolan delegation to the meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Ministry of Social Action, Family and Woman Promotion, as well as diplomats from the Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations Offices and other international organisations in Geneva.
