UNHCR responds to influx of Congolese refugees

The UNHCR has sent additional staff to the town of Tchibanga, some 400 km south of the Gabonese capital, Libreville, in response to an influx of refugees from Congo-Brazzaville, according to Kris Janowski, UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva. UNHCR will also open a second field office in the eastern town of Franceville to cater for the thousands of people who have fled fighting in the neighbouring country. Janowski said on Tuesday that although the number of refugees had not increased "significantly" since the first groups crossed into Gabon in early July, there were now reports of tens of thousands of Congolese in dense forest close to the border, waiting for the fighting to end. The Congolese towns of Mbinda, Mayoko and Mossendjo are said to be crowded with displaced people and many families have been split up, he said. Some of the 10,000 refugees who have already reached Gabon spoke of atrocities against civilians by militias fighting the national army, UNHCR said. Two freight containers of emergency relief supplies are due to arrive in Gabon at the end of the month, it added. A UNHCR spokesman in Abidjan told IRIN on Wednesday that in July and August, four UNHCR staff members were sent on mission to the office in Libreville to join the three local employees already there. There are plans to replace the four with international staff and upgrade the unit to a branch office, the spokesman said.