Relief agencies warn of potential refugee flood

The fighting in Equateur, where the MLC has infiltrated the area west of the provincial capital Mbandaka, has given rise to the fear of a mass exodus of the population, whether further east in the DRC or to the Republic of Congo, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing relief agency sources. The possibility of some 50,000 to 100,000 people fleeing Mbandaka - with very limited humanitarian access to them due to the presence of Congolese gunboats on the Ubangui river and general insecurity in the whole area - created a potential horror scenario, the report said. Access to some 8,000 refugees around Njoundou and Loukolela, and another 25,000 or so further north along the Ubangui river at Impfondo, was already extremely limited, it added.