UN official stresses plight of “forgotten victims”

The estimated 810,000 displaced people and recent returnees in the Republic of Congo were among the “largest groups of forgotten humanitarian victims”, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Republic of Congo William Paton said on Wednesday. Although the overall situation in the country was improving and fighting had declined in recent months, there were still grave humanitarian needs that had to be addressed, Paton told a press briefing at the UN headquarters. About 100,000 displaced people had reached Pointe-Noire, some 200,000 had reached Brazzaville and about half a million were still in the interior of the country. Mortality rates remained “alarmingly high” due to the suspension of food production, reduced food imports and large population concentrations in some areas, he said. Meanwhile, Paton told IRIN that new humanitarian missions to access displaced populations outside Brazzaville and Pointe Noire should take place in the near future.