UN agency moves Congolese refugees inland as others return home

Some 7,000 Congolese who had taken refuge in Uganda following recent heavy fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have returned home, and another 1,100 have been moved to two refugee settlements in Uganda, a safe distance from the DRC-Uganda border, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). UNHCR said it remained concerned about the volatile situation in eastern DRC- notably in North Kivu Province. "For the past few days, UNHCR and the Ugandan authorities have been working around the clock to prepare Nakivale settlement to receive several thousand of the recently arrived refugees," the agency said in a statement on Thursday. Nakivale, in Uganda's Isingoro district, some 220 km southwest of the capital city of Kampala, was already home to about 16,000 refugees, according to UNHCR. Seventy percent of the refugees are Rwandan. The agency said that Nakivale has plenty of lush and fertile land but that water supplies are limited and more houses need to be built. "One of the first priorities was to clearly delineate plots of land for the newcomers," said Montserrat Feixas Vihe, UNHCR's acting representative in Kampala. "We have also set up a mobile clinic next to the reception centre, but we will need to expand the health facilities in the settlement. We also have to make sure that there are teachers and space in the schools for the children." According to the agency, a group of 66 people with special needs - mostly disabled people and pregnant women - arrived in Nakivale on Wednesday, followed on Thursday by a group of 898 refugees whom UNHCR had moved from the border district of Kisoro. More arrivals to the settlement are expected in the next few days. Further to the north, another group of 201 refugees were brought on Thursday from the border hamlet of Ishasha, in the district of Kanungu, to the existing settlement of Kyaka II. The refugees had arrived in Uganda at two different locations along the western border after fleeing fighting in the Congolese province of North Kivu. UNHCR said in the space of a few days, thousands of people crossed into Uganda from DRC, reaching a total of some 20,000 last weekend. The largest group made its way to Nyakabanda in Kisoro district. At the height of the crisis, an estimated 15,000 people had taken refuge in and around the small border town. Many have now gone back to DRC, where fighting appears to have abated, the agency said. Cross-border movements continue, however. UNHCR said that another 2,000 persons arrived in Uganda on Wednesday night and then crossed back to DRC on Thursday morning. It was difficult to estimate how many refugees were still in the area after the transfer of almost 900 people to Nakivale on Thursday. Another group, estimated at 5,000, had crossed into Uganda's Kanungu district last week, at the border hamlet of Ishasha. "In any refugee emergency, we always try to move refugees from the border as quickly as possible," Feixas Vihe said. "This is what we are trying to do now by taking people to Nakivale. But many of the refugees have told us they do not wish to leave the border area. They want to stay there to be able to go back to their homes quickly once the fighting stops." Arim Sally, a UNHCR official in Kampala, said that the agency and other relief organisations had started distributing basic necessities to refugees in the border areas including water, food and blankets. Uganda is already home to some 208,000 refugees, including 168,800 Sudanese, 20,200 Congolese and 15,600 Rwandans. A December 2005 MONUC report revealed that despite the DRC's civil war ending in 2003, serious human rights abuses by the Congolese military - including rape, forced imprisonment, summary executions, theft and harassment - continue to be perpetrated against the civilian population. Today, 1.6 million persons remain internally displaced, while 460, 000 persons have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. An estimated 3.5 million people have died as a consequence of the conflict. Humanitarians at risk Meanwhile, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which is active in eastern DRC, has warned about deteriorating security for humanitarians in the region. In a statement on Thursday, NRC said that the situation seemed to be worsening after three of its drivers were taken hostage by the Congolese army on 20 January. NRC said the local drivers were transporting building material for schools for internally displaced people in Rutshuru when they were approached by army officers and forced to transport military personnel, their dependents, weapons and ammunition, during the military's retreat from fighting in Rutshuru territory. "Two of the drivers were freed to go the next day, while the third driver was not released until Thursday, 26 January," the statement said. Despite support from the provincial governor and pressure from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC), the third driver was held captive for almost a week. "He was forced to transport military equipment and ammunition in the NRC vehicle," said Jens Mjaugedal, director of NRC's international department. "We seriously condemn this violation of NRC's neutrality, which further illustrates the lack of humanitarian space for humanitarian workers in the east of Congo." Subsequently, NRC has suspended its activities in Rutshuru "until security clearance comes from the authorities, MONUC and OCHA, and until we receive assurance from the military and political authorities that no further violations of NRC's neutrality will be perpetrated by the military." None of the drivers were physically injured. The agency has reported the incident to the governor of North Kivu and to the military authorities. Despite political progress over the last year, the situation in eastern Congo remains tense and unstable. NRC regularly receives worrying reports regarding tensions and fighting between different military groups, including opposing groups within the Congolese army itself. [Timeline of latest violence in eastern Congo]