DR CONGO: AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES, POPULATION AT DISPLACED SITE SWELLS

DR CONGO: AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES, POPULATION AT DISPLACED SITE SWELLS
New York, Dec 4 2007 9:00AM
Hundreds of people have been streaming into a makeshift camp for displaced persons in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid clashes between Government troops (FARDC) and those loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

All sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Goma area "are about to reach capacity," said Andrej Mahecic, a UNHCR spokesman in Geneva. "We fear renewed fighting will bring more suffering in an already desperate humanitarian situation.

"With sharpening inter-ethnic divides and a continuous build-up of military forces, UNHCR is deeply concerned about the risks of severe human rights abuses and violence against civilians."

The displaced people arriving at Lac Vert camp were fleeing heavy fighting yesterday between rebels, renegade troops and government forces near Sake, 30 kilometres northwest of Goma, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"According to the new arrivals, at least another 1,000 people were on the road heading towards the same site," said Mr. Mahecic. "The situation is subject to rapid change depending on the fighting."

The makeshift site at Lac Vert, which was overpopulated with extremely poor living conditions, is under rehabilitation by UNHCR and its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners following the transfer of more than 7,000 IDPs to UNHCR-managed Buhimba and Bulengo camps.

The agency is transferring the newly arrived to other camps because the environment at Lac Vert is not suitable for habitation and needs refurbishment. "With all the agencies, international NGOs and government officials we are relocating the new arrivals to sites where the environment is appropriate," said Germaine Bationo, leader of the UNHCR emergency response team in Goma.

Marcelin Hepie, UNHCR's deputy representative in Goma, added: "All the four sites in the Goma area are about to reach maximum cap
the intensification of fighting on different fronts, we need sites to host new arrivals in desperate need of security. But what we need is for the guns to fall silent. What we need most is peace."

Since December 2006, conflict and military build up in North Kivu have led to a massive population displacement -- one of the worst since the end of the civil war in 2003. Some 405,000 Congolese have been forced from their homes in the province in the past 12 months, including some 170,000 since August. In total, there are some 800,000 IDPs in the province, UNHCR said.

The fighting which broke out Sunday hampered the agency's efforts to move some 2,500 IDPs from public buildings in the centre of Rutshuru, north of Goma, to a newly developed site at Dumez, just outside the town. "After transferring just 295 IDPs, our staff had to be withdrawn and the operation was suspended," the spokesman said.

2007-12-04 00:00:00.000

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