17,000 Sudanese refugees flee ethnic violence

About 17,000 Sudanese refugees remained in hiding on Monday, having fled ethnic violence last week in a refugee settlement in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Rebels of the Congolese Patriotic Union/Popular Rally (UPC-RP) had moved into the Biringi refugee settlement, about 80 km west of the town of Aru on the Congo-Ugandan border, prompting most of the population to flee, Kitty McKinsey, regional public information officer with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told IRIN on Monday. This latest round of fighting erupted on 21 October when the rebels, believed to be supporters of the Hema people, began withdrawing northwards, UNHCR reported. Lendu fighters blocked the rebels; thereby sending them into the Biringi settlement and surrounding areas, causing panic among the refugees who fled into the bush. Fighting between the UPC and Lendu intensified on Thursday and Friday, McKinsey said. "A handful of refugees" who had fled from Ayamba, an area about 11 km from the centre of Biringi where fighting had taken place, briefly returned to their homes on Monday to see if their houses remained standing and to gather some food, she said. Some other refugees, who had not witnessed the fighting, but had fled when they heard gunfire, were reportedly returning to stay, she added. "There have been no reports of any casualties among the refugees or the civilian population, but UNHCR remains concerned about their safety," she said. UPC, led by Thomas Lubanga, is a dissident faction of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation.