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Angola: Government protection available to people who are targets of National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA)

No reports of government protection available to people who are targets ofNational Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA) could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According toAngola Peace Monitor, aid agencies portray the situation in Angola as worsening. "The international humanitarian community now fears the worst for the Angolan people, considering the distressing conditions in which thousands of civilians are plunged while fleeing from shelling, harassment and looted or mined crops" (28 July 1999). The aid community however, "aims to raise desperately needed funds for supplies and transport, but cannot address the need for security."  This source further states that "there have been allegations of violence against citizens by the police and army." While the Provincial vice-governor of Cuito denied that residents are"deliberate targets"  he nonetheless admitted that "firing in the air by drunken security personnel could inadvertently cause casualties." The Angola Peace Monitor also states that "there have incidents of aid agencies' property –such as vehicles and communication equipment – being confiscated by government forces." (ibid.).

The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that "the people living in UNITA-controlled areasare out of the reach of humanitarian assistance, and that attempts to negotiate access for evaluation missions have been denied by the government and UNITA" (ibid., 2).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Angola Peace Monitor [London]. 28 July 1999. Vol. 28. No. 11. "UN Criticises Donar Response to Angola Crisis." <http: // www.anc.org.za/angola/apm0510.html> [Accessed: 5 Aug. 1999].

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential [London]. January 1998 - June 1999. Vols.38-39. Weekly.

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. 1998-1999. Vols. 34-35. Nos. 1-12.

Amnesty International. 1998. Amnesty International Report 1998. New York: Amnesty International USA.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998 1999 United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Press.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. January 1998-January 1999. Monthly. Vols. 44-45.

Political Handbook of the World 1998. 1998. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, LEXIS/NEXIS, World Network Connection (WNC)

Topics: Militias,