UNHCR concerned about atrocities against civilians in the eastern DRC

Briefing Notes, 22 May 2009

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrew Purvis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 May 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is deeply concerned about growing reports of atrocities and abuses against civilians in the North and South Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) committed both by rebel groups and by government forces, which continue to cause major population displacements in the region. Attacks and reprisals have been mainly blamed on the so-called Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) but also increasingly on the Congolese national army, the FARDC.

Two weeks ago, attacks carried out allegedly by the FDLR in the village of Ekingi, about 80 km northwest of Bukavu in South Kivu province, and in Busurungi, in Walikale territory in North Kivu province, killed more than 60 people. More than 700 houses were burned. Renewed violence against civilians continue to cause panic, forcing large number of people to leave their villages and head towards Hombo, some 20 km to the north.

Since January, repeated attacks by the FDLR in North and South Kivu have driven more than 370,000 people from their homes and into the forests or to other places of refuge.

Tensions have been high in South Kivu, the scene of increased military activity by the FARDC against the FDLR aimed at neutralizing the Rwandan Hutu rebels. The ongoing military operations in North Kivu against the FDLR have forced some 30,000 people to flee to Kahele and Shabunda districts in South Kivu.

Harassment, human rights abuses, rapes and intimidations against civilians are regularly reported by the local population in the east of DRC. Civilians are constantly living under the threat of armed men, who systematically pillage, rape women, burn houses and confiscate their harvest and food rations. Robberies as well as forced labour are also common in the region.

We urgently appeal to the Government of the DRC, with the support of the international community, to provide protection to the civilian population and to end the atmosphere of impunity surrounding crimes committed by members of the FARDC, the national police and by armed rebels such as the FDLR.

UNHCR continues to conduct protection monitoring in collaboration with its implementing partners in the most affected and accessible areas in the South Kivu. Security incidents against humanitarian workers are also on the increase. Several planned humanitarian missions have been put on hold to avoid putting beneficiaries at risk.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Share this story on Facebook

Related Stories

UNHCR country pages

Internally Displaced People

The internally displaced seek safety in other parts of their country, where they need help.

Colombia: A struggle for rights

Overlooked by the rest of the world, decades of violent internal conflict have forced more than 3.5 million Colombians from their homes, with more fleeing nearly every day. Some seek shelter overseas, but about 80 percent head for urban centres within the country.

For most, towns and cities represent much-prized safety after seeing loved ones killed, or rescuing their children from threats of forced conscription. But the places where they can afford to live are usually the poorest barrios - located on a landslide-prone cliff or, perhaps, a flood-plagued beachfront.

Rural people and farmers also often find it a challenge to make a living in a town or city. Instead of growing plantains and catching fish, they now have to somehow earn enough money every day to feed their families.

Traumas also follow displaced Colombians. Formerly independent women used to working or staying alone now need to have others around constantly.

UNHCR is working with the Colombian government to make services available to forcibly displaced people. An important first step is a long-standing collaboration under which more than 3 million displaced Colombians have received identity cards.

Colombia: A struggle for rights

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

As a massive food distribution gets underway in six UNHCR-run camps for tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese in North Kivu, the UN refugee agency continues to hand out desperately needed shelter and household items.

A four-truck UNHCR convoy carrying 33 tonnes of various aid items, including plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen sets and jerry cans crossed Wednesday from Rwanda into Goma, the capital of the conflict-hit province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The aid, from regional emergency stockpiles in Tanzania, was scheduled for immediate distribution. The supplies arrived in Goma as the World Food Programme (WFP), with assistance from UNHCR, began distributing food to some 135,000 displaced people in the six camps run by the refugee agency near Goma.

More than 250,000 people have been displaced since the fighting resumed in August in North Kivu. Estimates are that there are now more than 1.3 million displaced people in this province alone.

Posted on 6 November 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Pakistan Earthquake: Major push to Bring in Aid before Winter

With the snow line dropping daily, the race to get relief supplies into remote mountain areas of Pakistani-administered Kashmir intensifies. In a major push to bring aid to the people in the Leepa Valley, heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the British Royal Air force airlifted in 240 tonnes of UNHCR emergency supplies, including tents, plastic sheeting, stoves, and kitchen sets.

At lower elevations, UNHCR and its partners have dispatched emergency teams to camps to train members of the Pakistani military in site planning, camp management, winterization and the importance of water and sanitation – all crucial to containing disease during the long winter ahead.

By mid-November, UNHCR had provided a total of 19,356 tents, 152,325 blankets, 71,395 plastic sheets and tens of thousands of jerry cans, kitchen sets and other supplies. More of the agency's supplies are continuing to arrive in Pakistan on various airlifts, including a 103-flight joint NATO/UNHCR airlift from Turkey. Other UNHCR airlifts have brought in supplies from the agency's warehouses in Jordan, Dubai and Denmark.

Pakistan Earthquake: Major push to Bring in Aid before Winter

Helping The Displaced in North Kivu

Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has frustrated relief efforts in the east of the country. It's estimated that more than 370,000 people have been uprooted since last December. But reaching the most needy has been complicated by the fighting, with roads and some villages cut off.

High Commissioner Guterres visits eastern Congo

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visits some of the estimated 2.1 million displaced people in eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and asks for more international assistance.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Life in Limbo

In the continuing violence in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women and children are often caught in the crossfire. While the camps for the displaced offer some security for single mothers like Fatuma Kapuweli, she fears for her children's safety and welfare.