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The first wave of Congolese refugees fleeing to Gabon was reported at the weekend with some 1,500 Congolese crossing into three provinces along a 1,000 km-stretch of the border, UNHCR announced on Tuesday in Geneva.
The refugees, reportedly malnourished and in poor health, were pushed out by the ongoing fighting and unrest in the Republic of Congo, the UNHCR spokesperson said. Some 650 people were reported to have crossed into the southern provinces of Nyanga and Ngounie, with another 800 arriving in Haut Ogooue, to the north. Refugees said many more Congolese might trek through forests in search of aid in Gabon, UNHCR reported.
Aid workers from the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UNHCR are bringing first aid supplies and making arrangements to fly in blankets and buy food locally. Gabon is the second country to receive refugees from the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) since rival forces reopened the conflict in late 1998. Some
32,000 have fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the spokesperson said.
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