• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%

Some 84,000 Congolese flee inter-ethnic violence in Equateur province

News Stories, 15 December 2009

© UNHCR/S.Lubuku
Refugees from Equateur province wait for aid at a site near Betou in the Republic of Congo.

BETOU, Republic of Congo, December 15 (UNHCR) – Tens of thousands of Congolese civilians have fled to the Republic of Congo (ROC) to escape inter-ethnic violence in recent weeks in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with more on the way.

According to ROC government estimates, some 84,000 refugees from troubled Equateur province have fled to the Republic of Congo since early November, after the Enyele and Munzaya tribes clashed over farming and fishing rights.

A further 100,000 people may have been internally displaced in the province, which remains tense. Government troops have reportedly regained control over several areas, including the flashpoint of Dongo. UNHCR is planning an assessment mission to this area as soon as security conditions permit.

Some of the new arrivals in the ROC told UN refugee agency staff that they fled their homes following the news that Enyele militiamen had launched an attack in the Dongo area in late October, killing and wounding scores of people, and were now advancing towards Gemena, located some 200 kilometres north of Dongo.

Others came from the fighting areas or said they were afraid of the DRC government's counter-offensive. In the latest wave of arrivals, UNHCR staff met people with fresh gunshot wounds. They also registered nine rape cases, including three girls aged under 18 years.

"Together with our partners, we are trying to cope with the influx, but aid reserves are running low as the number of refugees mushrooms and current needs overcome the actual resources," a UNHCR spokesperson said on Tuesday. "In addition, humanitarian agencies are facing considerable logistical obstacles as the entire refugee population is scattered along a 500-kilometre stretch on the banks of the Oubangui River," he added.

These refugees live in crowded conditions and the risks of respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malaria are high. Together with its partners, UNHCR has helped create nine health centres near the main concentrations of refugees. The agency is also operating several mobile clinics for people in the more remote areas.

Due to a lack of clean water, the refugees are using the river for their needs, which is another major health risk. "We are distributing water-purifying tablets to make the water safer for consumption. Aid agencies have installed six large water bladders with a combined capacity of 60,000 litres in the vicinity of Betou, in northern ROC, where nearly 55,000 of the new arrivals are now sheltering," the UNHCR spokesperson said.

The massive presence of refugees from the DRC is also putting pressure on the local communities, some of whom are hosting people in their homes, sharing their meagre resources. Other refugees have found shelter in public buildings – such as in the village of Monzombo in the Betou area where eight classrooms of a local school are being used as shelter, making it difficult for the local children to attend classes.

Following the allocation of land by the local authorities, UNHCR has started building a new camp site in the Betou area where some of the refugees will be moved to.

By Boubacar Ben Diallo in Betou, Republic of Congo

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

 

Related stories by:

UNHCR country pages

Congo's river refugees

More than 100,000 Congolese refugees have crossed the Oubangui River in search of safety in neighbouring Republic of the Congo since inter-ethnic violence erupted in their home areas late last year. They fled from Equateur province in the north-west of Democratic Republic of the Congo after Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults in October on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area. The tensions have spread to other parts of the province.

The majority of the displaced are camping in public buildings and some 100 sites along a 600-kilometre stretch of the Oubangui River, including with host communities. The massive influx is stretching the meagre resources of the impoverished and remote region. Help is urgently needed for both the refugees and the host communities.

The relief operation is logistically complex and expensive because the region can only be reached by plane or boat. However, few boats are available and most are in need of repair. Fuel is expensive and difficult to procure.

Congo's river refugees

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

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Since 2006, renewed conflict and general insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province has forced some 400,000 people to flee their homes – the country's worst displacement crisis since the formal end of the civil war in 2003. In total, there are now some 800,000 people displaced in the province, including those uprooted by previous conflicts.

Hope for the future was raised in January 2008 when the DRC government and rival armed factions signed a peace accord. But the situation remains tense in North Kivu and tens of thousands of people still need help. UNHCR has opened sites for internally displaced people (IDPs) and distributed assistance such as blankets, plastic sheets, soap, jerry cans, firewood and other items to the four camps in the region. Relief items have also been delivered to some of the makeshift sites that have sprung up.

UNHCR staff have been engaged in protection monitoring to identify human rights abuses and other problems faced by IDPs and other populations at risk across North Kivu.

UNHCR's ninemillion campaign aims to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for nine million refugee children by 2010.

Posted on 28 May 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

South Sudan: My VisitPlay video

South Sudan: My Visit

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing violence again in South Sudan.
Mexico: Fleeing Central American Gang ViolencePlay video

Mexico: Fleeing Central American Gang Violence

Tens of thousands of people make their way to Mexico on mixed migration routes every year. They include victims of gang violence who need protection.
Kyrgyzstan: One Year OnPlay video

Kyrgyzstan: One Year On

A year ago, when violence erupted in Kyrgyzstan, Saliya and her family hid in their basement for three days as fighting raged overhead. Life is slowly returning to normal today.