- Several thousand Congolese refugees have again started pouring into neighbouring Uganda, saying that they were fleeing fighting between two major ethnic groups in the Ituri region of eastern Congo Kinshasa (DRC), the UN's refugee agency said today. There are reports of new clashes between Hema and Lendu militias in the Congolese region.
An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people have made their way across Lake Albert by boat from Congo's troubled Ituri province to the village of Nkondo, some 285 kilometres from the Ugandan capital of Kampala, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. The number refugees that have arrived in five different areas of Uganda totals between 16,300 and 19,300 people, UNHCR officials at the scene said.
As most of the refugees being women and children in poor health who were unable to climb up the escarpment rising from the lake, UNHCR had sent blankets, soap and other relief items from its Kampala warehouse to Nkondo and had contacted other UN agencies to provide food and sanitation. It was also negotiating with the local authorities to put up a water tank.
Another 10,000 Congolese had arrived in Ishaka, further north along the border with Congo Kinshasa, and may be transferred to Kyaka, an existing refugee settlement six hours away in western Uganda, but one lacking sufficient water so far, UNHCR said.
The refugees have said there is fighting between Hema and Lendu militias and UNHCR said the UN's peacekeeping mission in the Congo (MONUC) reported clashes between a faction of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC-L) and the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI). The UPC is a Hema militia and the FNI a Lendu militia.
This is by far the first time fighting breaks out between the two ethnic groups. The Hema and the Lendu, have a history of conflicts going back to colonial times, but the most heavy fighting was recorded a few years ago, when Ituri was occupied by Uganda. Several human rights groups thus blamed Ugandan authorities for fuelling the ethnic hatred between the two groups.
The last wave of refugees from Ituri arrived Uganda in May 2003, during the last Hema-Lendu flare-up in the province. At that time, an estimated 20,000 Congolese fled from Ituri district to Uganda.
Since that, the UN peacekeepers have mostly succeeded in keeping the region calm. MONUC yesterday reported that the UM mission was "satisfied" by what it calls a recent "breakthrough" in the disarmament of the armed groups in Ituri.
MONUC's spokesman, Mamadou Bah, told a news conference in Kinshasa that the so-called disarmament and community reintegration process in Ituri "is speeding up." As of now, 2031 ex-combatants had turned over their weapons and 12,664 weapons and ammunition had been collected, "which is an important breakthrough for the process to be applauded," the MONUC spokesman declared.
One of the factors that had helped the disarmament process was the destruction of several militia camps in Ituri, where massive human rights abuses were committed. "Such operations, notably the one in Ndrele, led several militiamen to suddenly report to transit sites and willingly hand over their arms," Mr Bah explained.
Despite these reported progresses, refugees however keep pouring into Uganda. In Uganda, UNHCR reports, local authorities are "long accustomed to such influxes" and have welcomed the new refugees. Unlike other countries that require refugees to stay in camps, Uganda sets aside settlements where refugees can farm for themselves and receive aid and services from UNHCR.
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