LUSAKA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Tuesday appealed for increased funding from humanitarian and development donor countries to support the refugee operations across the country in 2019.

While revealing that there has been no major influx of refugees coming into the country, Abdon Mwere, Commissioner for Refugees in the Ministry of Home Affairs said the numbers have gone up in the last two years, with the number of new arrivals average 700 asylum seekers per month.

He said more funding was required to provide critical humanitarian assistance to the refugees as well as the host communities, adding that critical needs range from food, shelter, infrastructure, as well social services in various refugee camps dotted across the southern African nation.

In January alone, a total of 1, 162 refugees and asylum seekers have been received in Zambia, with 1, 056 from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), he said in a release.

He added that the country received a total of 9,371 refugees in 2018, with the majority from the DRC.

Zambia currently hosts 77,370 persons of concerns, with 51,371 being refugees, 3,173 being asylum seekers while 22, 826 are former refugees.