Luanda — 42,000 Angolans have been expelled from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and they need urgent aid.

According to Bohdan Nahajlo, representative in Angola of the UNHCR, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the refugees are in urgent need of lodging, food, medicines, and medical stations.

He said that there is not enough drinking water, either. Some of the people drink from the nearby rivers which are highly contaminated and there are already cases of diarrhea.

"There are significant numbers of Angolan refugees among the forcibly returned and this is for us the most worrisome aspect of the situation. Some of them say they had been rounded up and taken to the border despite the fact they carried documents certifying their refugee status," Nahajlo said in a statement.

"Others said they were forced back without the chance to take their identification documents or any of their belongings. Most of them were deported from the Bas Congo Province in southern DRC," he added.

Among the registered needs are tents, cooking utensils, plastic bags, medicines, and medical attention. So far, the UNHCR has developed an assistance plan that includes the distribution of primary need items and tents.

"The expulsion of Angolans from DR Congo was in retaliation to a similar expulsion of a large number of Congolese nationals from Angola since December 2008.

An agreement has been signed between the governments of DR Congo and Angola to end to the cross border expulsions.

However, UNHCR says Angolan authorities are preparing for further, large-scale evacuation of Angolans who feel they can no longer remain in the DRC, the UNHCR's statement said.