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DRC: Thousands from North Kivu still on Ugandan side of border

Briefing Notes, 11 September 2007

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 11 September 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

There are still some 25,000 to 30,000 Congolese refugees at Bunagana on the Ugandan side of the border with the troubled North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Most had fled last week's escalation in fighting between the Congolese army, renegade troops and rebels. They are staying close to the border, keen to go back as soon as the situation improves. Ugandan authorities, fearing an outbreak of cholera because of congestion and a lack of adequate sanitation, water and health facilities, on Monday asked them to either move to the UNHCR-supported Nyakabanda reception centre some 20 km inside Uganda or return to the DRC.

There are now some 1,500 refugees at the Nyakabanda reception centre where UNHCR teams, together with MSF, have set up shelter facilities. Over the weekend, we distributed blankets, jerry-cans and plastic cups in Nyakabanda. WFP distributed food to 1,000 people. A Ugandan health team in cooperation with MSF France provided medical screening at the reception centre.

Inside the DRC, the situation in North Kivu province has somewhat calmed since last Friday. That allowed us to improve support to some of an estimated 35,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) stranded in the Mugunga area, 15 kilometres west of Goma. Our reports indicate that some displaced from Sake have returned during daylight, mainly to check their houses, amid deployments of MONUC peacekeepers. However, most IDPs from Sake and Masisi district continue to put up makeshift huts in the Mugunga area, awaiting more information on security conditions.

Last Friday, we set up the new Bulengo camp for displaced together with UNICEF and NGO partners. Over the weekend, hundreds of displaced have moved from makeshift, overcrowded sites and a nearby school complex to the new camp. Two UNHCR site planners arrived in Goma last Friday and are demarcating plots, communal kitchen areas, and sites for latrines and washrooms at the new Bulengo camp close to Mugunga. The new site has the capacity for 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.

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. Estimates are that since December 2006, the number of newly displaced in North Kivu has surpassed 220,000 and continues to grow. In total, there are more than 640,000 IDPs in this eastern DRC province.

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The crisis in North Kivu continues

Insecurity in Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province continues, with more than 500,000 people internally displaced, many for the second or third time. Armed combat, persecution of civilians, killings, abductions, sexual abuse and forced recruitment of children still lead to displacement. Reports of rapes and murders number in the thousands. Some 176,000 of the displaced live in Masisi District, including 49,000 hosted in 19 camps. Conditions are harsh, with entire families living in one-room ramshackle huts with no water or services. UNHCR is very concerned about the security situation, living conditions and the future of the displaced. Even though some 36,000 people living in camps in North Kivu managed to return home in 2010, approximately 72,000 remain.

UNHCR is coordinating 31 camps for internally displaced people (IDP) in the whole of North Kivu, providing emergency assistance. UNHCR is facing enormous challenges in terms of access to the areas where the IDPs are hosted and continues to plead for humanitarian access to assist the people in need.

The crisis in North Kivu continues

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.

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Displaced in North Kivu: A Life on the Run

Fighting rages on in various parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with seemingly no end in sight for hundreds of thousands of Congolese forced to flee violence and instability over the past two years. The ebb and flow of conflict has left many people constantly on the move, while many families have been separated. At least 1 million people are displaced in North Kivu, the hardest hit province. After years of conflict, more than 1,000 people still die every day - mostly of hunger and treatable diseases. In some areas, two out of three women have been raped. Abductions persist and children are forcefully recruited to fight. Outbreaks of cholera and other diseases have increased as the situation deteriorates and humanitarian agencies struggle to respond to the needs of the displaced.

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