WFP feeding thousands seeking refuge in Bunia

Some 20,000 people who have sought refuge in Bunia, the main town of the troubled Ituri District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have started to receive some 400 mt of food aid from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the agency announced on Wednesday.

However, WFP warned that with displaced people continuing to arrive in Bunia daily, attracted by its relative security, supplies would become strained.

Last week, WFP welcomed the pledges of more than US $9.5 million from the United States, $4.3 million from the European Union and $1 million from the Italian government following a renewed appeal for more than $38 million for war-affected populations in eastern DRC that was first issued in June.

The food rations, a mix of cereals, pulses, vegetable oil and salt, are being distributed by WFP's implementing partner, German Agro Action. The operation, due to last until 9 September, is being facilitated by the EU-led multinational peace enforcement mission.

WFP said the food aid was being targeted at people who had fled fierce fighting throughout Ituri and had sought refuge in camps in Bunia. Many of them are women and children, including orphans, who have walked from villages up to 100 km away to escape inter-ethnic conflict.

Prevailing insecurity in Ituri has meant that humanitarian access to Bunia is possible only by air. Two aircraft from the EU-led force are, therefore, delivering food daily to Bunia from Entebbe in neighbouring Uganda.

The multinational force, which is covering all the transportation costs, was deployed with a UN mandate in June to protect civilians in Bunia, following the outbreak of fighting in Ituri in May. By 1 September, it is due to be relieved by peacekeepers from the UN Mission in DRC, known as MONUC, who have already started to arrive.

Meanwhile, WFP said it was planning separate but parallel air operation within the next two weeks using commercial aircraft to deliver another 1,300 mt of food to Bunia, with costs for the operation to be met by the US.

At the beginning of August, WFP completed the airlift of 475 mt of food aid from Entebbe to Bunia on commercial flights.