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UN:
TEN OF THOUSANDS OF CONGOLESE REFUGEES STILL ON UGANDAN SIDE OF BORDER, UN
REPORTS: 11/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.) |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 11 September 2007 – Some
25,000 to 30,000 Congolese refugees remain on the Ugandan side of the border
with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after fleeing last week’s
escalation in fighting among the Congolese army, renegade troops and rebels, the
United Nations refugee agency reported today.
“They
are staying close to the border, keen to go back as soon as the situation
improves,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond
told a news briefing in Geneva, noting that the situation in the DRC’s
strife-torn North Kivu province has somewhat calmed since last Friday.
UN
agencies reported then that the upsurge in fighting was hampering efforts to
deliver food aid to tens of thousands of people driven from their homes, but Mr.
Redmond said the calm had allowed UNHCR to improve support for some of the
estimated 35,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) stranded in the Mugunga
area, 15 kilometres west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
Fearing
an outbreak of cholera because of congestion and a lack of adequate sanitation,
water and health facilities, Ugandan authorities have asked the Congolese to
either move to the UNHCR-supported Nyakabanda reception centre some 20
kilometres inside Uganda or return to the DRC, Mr. Redmond said.
Inside
North Kivu, some IDPs from the Sake area are reported to have returned during
daylight, mainly to check their houses, amid deployment of UN Mission in the DRC
(MONUC) peacekeepers. But most IDPs from Sake and Masisi district continue to
put up makeshift huts in the Mugunga area, awaiting more information on security
conditions.
On
Friday, UNHCR set up the new Bulengo camp for IDPs together with the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and non-governmental organization partners and
hundreds of displaced have moved from makeshift, overcrowded sites and a nearby
school complex to the new camp. The new site can accommodate some 25,000 people
under minimum humanitarian standards. Hundreds of families have already started
constructing shelters.
“We
are planning to transfer pregnant women and children by truck from makeshift
camps to the new site,” Mr. Redmond said. “We remain concerned with limited
access to other areas in Masisi and Rutshuru districts due to the tense security
situation. We fear only a small part of the recent displacement in the North
Kivu may be known and that there are other sites where humanitarian assistance
has not reached.”
UNICEF
is providing aid to about 60,000 people in the Muganga and Minova localities,
including clean water, latrines, temporary shelter materials, bedding and
cooking utensils. Vaccination against measles and neonatal tetanus is on-going
for all children under the age of 14 as well as for pregnant women.
“The
main victims of the deteriorating security situation in North Kivu are
children,” UNICEF country representative Anthony Bloomberg said. Measles and
cholera are growing dangers in the crowded makeshift camps around Goma.
Since
December new IDPs in North Kivu are estimated to have surpassed 220,000 and the
number continues to grow. In total, there are more than 640,000 IDPs in this
eastern DRC province. The eastern DRC remains the most violent area of the vast
country, where MONUC has overseen the transition from a six-year civil war to
gradual stabilization elsewhere.
On the
other side of Uganda, the first two of 40 IDP camps are to be closed today in
the northern Lango region as a result of the improved security situation,
ongoing peace talks between the Government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA) and generally improved freedom of movement, Mr. Redmond reported.
Estimates
are that some 92 per cent of some 466,000 IDPs in the region at the height of
the displacement in 2005 have returned. The camps were established between 2002
and 2004. But the situation is different in the Acholi region where 63 per cent
of some 1.1 million IDPs remain in the camps.
“With
the continuation of peace talks and continually improving security we expect to
see more IDPs return to their homes,” Mr. Redmond said.
At the
peak of displacement in 2005, there were 242 camps hosting 1.85 million IDPs. As
of the end of June, 539,550 IDPs had returned home and some 916,000 remain in
the camps. Another 381,000 moved to the new sites closer to their homes.
UN
agencies are also distributing food, vaccines and other aid to those affected by
heavy rainfall in eastern Uganda. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is providing
a one-month food ration, while UNICEF is delivering basic household items and
has begun cholera prevention measures.
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