More Angolan refugees enter Bandundu

About 200 Angolans a day are fleeing the insecure northern province of Lunda Norte into DRC, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva on Tuesday. The refugees, escaping fighting between Angolan government forces and UNITA rebels, are arriving in the Kahemba region of the southwestern DRC province of Bandundu. “UNHCR now estimates that there are about 12,500 refugees settled in four scattered sites in the area - Kulindji, Chifwameso, Mwa-Mushiko and the newest, Bindu. Among them, some 3,000 have arrived in the past six weeks and 5,000 since March,” Redmond said. He said there was an urgent need for more shelter, as people were camping under trees. Medical assistance and food were also in short supply. [For more details see separate IRIN item of 25 July headlined “ANGOLA-DRC: More Angolan refugees enter DRC”]