 |
| Ngulu Kishigho (r.), a farmer with 13 children, has fled his home four times in the past year. They both are among 65,000
newly displaced people. Some 700,000 in all are displaced in eastern Congo. Scott Baldauf |
Flood of refugees amid Congo conflict
Fresh fighting between the Army and Tutsi rebels has prompted new camps of displaced persons to spring up suddenly in the past three weeks, taxing efforts of relief workers to provide food and adequate shelter.
from the September 27, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
In the past three weeks, food and nonfood assistance has been delivered to nearly 65,000 newly displaced people, according to UNOCHA, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and more relief is available for the unknown number of people who may have fled into rebel-held areas. But insecurity and a shaky cease-fire have meant that most aid has been given out in government-held areas thus far.
This puts aid workers, who are neutral in any war, in an uncomfortable position of appearing to pick favorites. A recent aid convoy of 11 trucks attempting to reach rebel-held areas around Mushaki, conducted by the French aid group Solidarite, was halted by an angry crowd in the town of Sake, the last town in government hands. Displaced people in Sake accused Solidarite of feeding the rebels, while displaced people in the rebel-held town of Mushaki complained that they haven't received food aid since the crisis began. Indian peacekeepers for MONUC held back the crowds, but received their share of abuse as well.
Conditions in the displaced camps around Goma are abysmal and chaotic, despite the efforts of aid workers. Fields intended to be registration sites have rapidly grown into ad hoc towns. Deliveries of food and water are regular, but latrines are still being dug around the clock. Aid groups like UNICEF have started vaccinations for children, and water and sanitation officials keep an eye out for any signs of water-borne diseases.
Mapendo Justin, himself a displaced person, is chief of the committee of displaced people at a new camp near Mugunga. He says that villagers in his part of Masisi District fled from Nkunda as soon as the fighting broke out, but many fled even earlier, when the general's militia started forced recruiting of young boys and even girls.
"We walked for two days," he says. "People with children had it the hardest, and it's not known how many of them may have died along the road from exhaustion. In wartime, you can't stop to count the bodies."
One high school student from Bufamando, north of Masisi, says he knows his new camp is vulnerable to attack because it's close to the front lines. But he doesn't worry, he says. "We have police in the camp, and we have our own guns, too. The young people who were fighting provide for our security."
Nearby, as the sun gave way to a damp tropical dusk, Kahindo Bezeni bent a green sapling to make herself and her six children a hut. She looks up at the darkening sky. It will rain tonight, she knows, and her work picks up pace. "I don't have any shelter, I don't have any plastic sheeting, no blankets, no pots or pans," she says. She points to a pile of saplings on the lava-hard ground. "I just bought these sticks."
If she works fast, those sticks will be her home tonight.
•Coming next: A look at General Nkunda and his rebellion.
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
