REPORTS of armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slowed down voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees from Zambia, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said.

UNHCR country representative, James Lynch said in Lusaka yesterday that only a few refugees were going over to register for the exercise while some who registered earlier had changed their mind.

"Just before the fighting erupted in the Kivu region, the number of refugees registering for voluntary repatriation in the Mwange and Kala camps in northern Zambia had shown a significant increase.

"But now, very few are coming forward to register and even some of those who register are opting out at the last minute," Mr Lynch said.

He said the UNHCR and the Zambian Government had embarked on a massive information campaign.

He said most of the refugees were able to obtain information on what was happening in the DRC through short-wave radios and other sources.

Despite the situation, he said, UNHCR and its partners would continue to sensitise the refugees on what was taking place in the DRC to enable them to make an informed decision to repatriate voluntarily and register themselves on the remaining return movements in 2008.

Since the voluntary repatriation season for 2008 started in May, a total of 9,001 Congolese refugees have been repatriated from Zambia.

This is in addition to the 7,323 repatriated in 2007.

Mr Lynch said UNHCR had planned to repatriate 11,572 Congolese this year and all of them had returned to the Katanga province, which is far from the current conflict.

But the refugees were citing fear of the conflict spreading from eastern Congo to other areas as the reason for not registering for voluntary repatriation.

Despite the returns, Zambia continued to host some 45,253 Congolese refugees as at the end of October 2008, with 28,571 residing in camps and settlements, 1,682 in urban areas and an estimated 15,000 who are self-settled.

Mr Lynch said in the event that there was an influx of Congolese refugees into Zambia as a result of the current conflict, the UNHCR was ready to work with the Zambian Government and other cooperating partners to assist.