UN alarmed at plight of stranded refugees

The UNHCR on Tuesday expressed great concern for tens of thousands of refugees scattered in a 700 km stretch along the Congo and Ubangui rivers dividing the Republic of Congo (RoC) and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The refugees were suffering from a wide range of health problems and many required urgent medical attention, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in a press briefing. He stressed the need for humanitarian access to the stranded population, but said “traffic on the rivers - the only way to reach most of the refugees - has been at a standstill for the past weeks due to fighting and insecurity along the DRC side.” The affected areas in RoC included north of Loukolela and around Impfondo, which is just opposite Imese in the DRC, where fighting recently erupted between the DRC army and the rebel Mouvement de liberation du congo (MLC), Redmond added.