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83 asylum seekers arrive in Zambia

Xinhua, December 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

About 83 asylum seekers have arrived in Zambia and authorities were currently screening them to ascertain their nationalities, immigration officials said Friday.

Immigration Department spokesperson Wellington Lubinda said the they entered the country from northern Zambia's Mpulungu district, which borders Tanzania.

He said authorities were ascertaining the asylum seekers' reasons for entering the country and they would be transferred to a refugee camp in western Zambia after the screening.

Zambia has witnessed an increase in the number of asylum seekers entering the country from the northern region, with most of them crossing into the country via Lake Tanganyika.

Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said a total of 3,044 asylum seekers had entered Zambia from neighboring countries seeking international protection this year.

According to the UN refugee agency, 2,084 of them came from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while 768 came from Burundi, with the rest from other parts of Africa. Endit