More refugees arriving in RoC

UNHCR has been giving more details of the tens of thousands of refugees who have fled fighting in Equateur province along the Ubangui river to neighbouring Republic of Congo (RoC). “Around 4,000 of the 22,000 Congolese in camps north of the [RoC] town of Impfondo scattered into the forest when government forces engaged rebels last week on the opposing bank of the river that separates the two countries,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. “New sites have sprung up about 5 km from the river.” He said that people were still arriving in small numbers from Equateur. Refugees told a UNHCR team in the area that they were leaving the towns of Imese, which was reclaimed by government troops last week, as well as the villages of Nyela, Itula, Mbombe in DRC.

Insecurity on the Ubangui has also limited UNHCR’s access. “Over an affected border area of approximately 700 km from Loukolela north to Betou we now have access to just 120 km around Loukolela and Impfondo. The majority in this remote region, where there are an estimated 40,000 refugees, can only be reached by river,” he said Redmond also said UNHCR staff were “extremely concerned” about conditions in the town of Njoundou. The last UNHCR mission to reach Njoundou, on 1 July, counted 5,200 new refugees and test results have since revealed cases of shigella dysentery. “As part of our continuing effort to help the estimated 14,000 refugees in the Impfondo region, UNHCR distributed plastic sheeting, soap, hoes, seeds, high-protein biscuits and jerrycans to 1,200 refugees in Impfondo on Sunday and Monday,” he added.