Title: Angolan Refugees to be Repatriated News from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America May 21, 1996 ANGOLAN REFUGEES TO BE REPATRIATED Beginning this summer Angolan refugees from settlements in Zambia will be repatriated in accordance with the Lusaka Peace Protocol of November 1994. Action by Churches Together (ACT) will provide support for the effort. ACT is a worldwide network of churches, including the Lutheran World Federation, meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. A total of 31,000 Angolans should be repatriated. In order for a successful voluntary repatriation, ACT says information campaigns and demographic surveys must be conducted, mine awareness education stepped up, transit centers constructed with feeding and sanitation areas, roads and bridges repaired to the border. An important component of the education plan is training about the danger of land mines, identification of land mines, and what to do in case a landmine is found. The settlements have been home to Angolan refugees since 1971. Two convoys of 1,000 refugees each will make the trip to the border transit center each week. Resources are needed for training of personnel, for transport and printed materials. Refugees say that they will need assurances from various leaders that life in Angola is returning to an acceptable level and their home areas are peaceful. ACT's plan is to take traditional leaders and village chairmen from the settlements in Zambia to home areas in Angola so that they can spread a positive word. At the same time traditional leaders within Angola itself will visit the settlements in Zambia to assure the returnees that all is well. Lutheran World Federation will provide blankets and quilts for use in reception and transit centers and used clothing in family packages for returnees, on the day of their departure to Angola. These donated commodities are already in the Lusaka warehouse. The Lutheran World Federation is a worldwide communion of 122 member churches, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church is America. [ELCA News and Information, 8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631; 312/380-2963.]