Tracing activities

Tracing work resumed in early 1995 in the areas controlled by UNITA on the outskirts of Huambo, and Red Cross messages were able to pass between UNITA - and government-controlled zones. The ICRC transported two Portuguese families from Huambo to Luanda so that their embassy could arrange for their repatriation to Portugal, and six other people were taken to the capital to be reunited with their relatives. In order to carry out tracing activities in UNITA - controlled areas in Uige province, an additional tracing office was opened in Negage, and another was set up in Jamba to cover the south-east of the country. Three new sub-offices were opened in Benguela province, bringing the tracing network in Angola to 28 offices and sub-offices in an effort to cope with the ever-rising number of Red Cross messages. As the year progressed and the nation’s road network was slowly opened up to traffic, making communication easier, the number of messages collected and distributed decreased.

In December, after months of endeavour, the ICRC carried out the first family reunification between UNITA - and government-controlled areas.

* MPLA: Movimento popular de liberta de Angola
* UNDP: United Nations Development Programme