Briefing the media and diplomats at Parliament on Friday, UNHCR representative for Southern Africa, Bemma Donkoh, said the biggest concentration in her region was in Tanzania, where there were 500000 refugees.
Excluding Tanzania and Zambia, there were 420000 refugees in Southern Africa, mainly from Angola.
This figure did not include about four million displaced people within that country.
"In South Africa itself, as far as we can gather from figures provided by the department of home affairs, we have some 7000 Angolan refugees and asylum seekers currently here," Donkoh said.
She said there were an estimated 23 000 refugees in total in South Africa, although "many more" applications for asylum had been received.
"They are mainly from Central Africa, Angola, a few from Somalia, and very, very few from West Africa." Home affairs was the principal department for regulating the affairs of refugees.
On refugees from Zimbabwe, she said "no significant request for asylum" had been received from citizens of that country.
Donkoh defined a refugee as "a person who -- owing to a well-founded fear of persecution relating to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion -- are outside their country of nationality, and are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of their country of origin or nationality".
She said in terms of the UNHCR, it was essential to cross an international border to be classified as a refugee - Sapa.
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