More than 5,000 Congolese flee to Uganda amid fresh fighting
The surge in new arrivals has put a strain on shelter facilities at the Nyakabande Transit Centre, which currently houses more than 11,500 people.
GENEVA, July 10 (UNHCR) - Renewed fighting over the last week in Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province has caused more than 5,000 people to flee across the border into south-west Uganda and left an unknown number internally displaced.
As of Monday, Uganda Red Cross staff in the crowded Nyakabande Transit Centre in Uganda's Kisoro District had registered 5,075 new Congolese arrivals from North Kivu's neighbouring Rutshuru territory since the latest fighting between government troops and the rebel March 23 movement exploded last Thursday. The defectors on Friday captured the border town of Bunagana on Friday followed by the important town of Rutshuru, causing thousands to flee.
Most of the arrivals in Uganda have crossed at Bunagana, but some are using other crossing points such as Nteko and Ishasha. The surge in new arrivals has put a strain on shelter facilities at the Nyakabande Transit Centre, which currently houses more than 11,500 people and where UNHCR has a presence.
The pressure has been eased by completion of a communal shelter for 350 people and the erection of dozens of tents. Provision of water is also a problem at the centre due to a fault with some pumps. Water has had to be trucked in.
In a separate development, a bus carrying Congolese refugees from Nyakabande to the Rwamwanja refugee settlement some 350kms to the north overturned on Tuesday, killing one child and injuring 11 people, according to preliminary reports. The bus was part of a 20-vehicle convoy organized by UNHCR and carrying more than 1,600 people who had asked to be moved to the new home deeper inside Uganda.
Meanwhile, across the border in North Kivu, UNHCR staff say the latest combat has left thousands of people internally displaced but full figures are not available because neither UNHCR nor its partners can now operate in much of the province. But the latest UN figures say more than 100,000 people from North Kivu have been displaced since April.
The situation in Goma was tense on Monday but no large-scale influx from Rutshuru territory has been noted so far, nor has the number of people crossing to Rwanda increased significantly in recent days.
All staff in UNHCR's Masisi, Kitchanga and Rutshuru field offices in North Kivu - almost 50 people - had been relocated to Goma before the latest fighting, the most serious since the split in army ranks in April. There are 31 sites for displaced Congolese in North Kivu, but UNHCR can now only visit people staying in sites near Goma, including Mugunga III, which shelters about 10,500 people.
Staff in Goma said they had heard that many people fleeing the fighting in Rutshuru had moved to areas around the UN peace-keeping base in Kiwanja. Unconfirmed reports of abuse have been received from the area.
Meanwhile, the escalation in fighting this year has helped to boost the number of Rwandan refugees in North Kivu who are applying to UNHCR for voluntary repatriation.
Since January, more than 6,000 people have been repatriated to Rwanda this year, including more than 4,700 from North Kivu and 1,785 from South Kivu. UNHCR had estimated that it would repatriate about 5,000 for the whole year from North Kivu. And the number of people registering for repatriation has rocketed over the past two weeks from about 120 per week to 450 per week.
The refugees, many of them from the Walikale territory north-west of Goma, cite general insecurity and violence in the region and the renewed fighting. According to the latest UNHCR figures, 18,283 Congolese refugees have arrived in Rwanda and been received at the Nkamira Transit Centre since late April. More than 7,600 have since been transferred to a new camp at Kigeme.
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Fresh fighting triggers new Congolese refugee inflow to Uganda
4 Nov 2013 ... estimated 10,000 people to flee in panic across the border into south-west Uganda's Kisoro district. ... and one Ugandan suffering from minor injuries from shell fragments and took them to Kisoro Hospital. ...... -
20,000 refugees flee to Uganda to escape clashes in D.R. Congo
22 Jan 2006 ... UNHCR staff reported that some 15,000 refugees are staying in the open at an airfield in Kisoro, 450 ... The refugees in Kisoro told UNHCR staff that they had crossed into Uganda to get away from the ...... -
Uganda receives Congolese fleeing insecurity, suffering in North Kivu
9 Mar 2012 ... People are crossing into Kisoro district in south-western Uganda. Most of them originate from North ... In Kisoro, UNHCR staff heard from a Congolese man who described how he was sexually assaulted by ...... -
Tens of thousands of Congolese seek shelter in Uganda border town
7 Sep 2007 ... Congolese relatives and friends living in Bunagana, located in western Uganda's Kisoro province. ... UNHCR teams in Uganda have conducted a number of field missions to Kisoro since late August, ...... -
More than 3,000 Congolese flee insecurity, suffering in North Kivu
9 Mar 2012 ... People are crossing into Kisoro district in south-western Uganda. Most of them originate from North ... In Kisoro, UNHCR staff heard from a Congolese man who described how he was sexually assaulted by ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2010-2011 - Uganda
1 Dec 2009 ... to Uganda. More than 50,000 have entered the Kisoro and Kanungu districts since November 2008. ... screen Congolese from the DRC arriving at the Kisoro reception centre. l A reduction in ...... -
More than 10,000 Congolese civilians flee to Uganda to escape fighting in North Kivu
30 Oct 2013 ... Refugees began crossing into southern Uganda's Kisoro district, via the border town of Bunagana, on ... In Uganda's Kisoro district, UNHCR has since Monday arranged for more than 2,940 people to be ...... -
Uganda: Recent Congolese arrivals moved away from the border
27 Jan 2006 ... followed on Thursday by a group of 898 refugees whom UNHCR moved from the border district of Kisoro. ... The largest group of some 15,000 people arrived in Nyakabanda in Kisoro district, some 450 ...... -
More than 5,000 Congolese flee to Uganda amid fresh fighting
10 Jul 2012 ... As of Monday, Uganda Red Cross staff in the crowded Nyakabande Transit Centre in Uganda's Kisoro District had registered 5,075 new Congolese arrivals from North Kivu's neighbouring Rutshuru territory ......