UNHCR gets access to DRC refugees

The UNHCR has announced that it is deploying an emergency team in Betou, on the border with neighbouring Democratic Reopublic of Congo (DRC), in the wake of an improved security situation, in order to help an estimated 25,000 DRC refugees in that area. Security had also improved in the area of Impfondo, further south along the Ubangui River and UNHCR was planning to locate some emergency staff there, the agency said. There are an estimated 100,000 DRC refugees scattered along an 800 km stretch of the Ubangui, between the Republic of Congo and the DRC to the east, according to UNHCR figures. “Supplying them with aid, be it by boat or by road, has been extremely difficult because of logistics and continued fighting along the river which occasionally spills over to the Republic of the Congo side,” UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday. $14 million post-conflict credit approved The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved a credit equivalent to about $14 million to support the government’s post-conflict reconstruction and recovery programme after the 1997-‘99 civil wars. The credit would be available immediately, the IMF stated. Acting Chairman Eduardo Aninat said the Congolese authorities were to be commended “for the rapid progress they made in implementing the measures necessary for political normalisation and economic recovery.” Security had been largely restored, emergency relief was reaching those in need and a start had been made with rehabilitating basic infrastructure, but serious difficulties remained and support would be needed from the international community to close financing gaps, Aninat said. The country’s peace process had been “mainly initiated and managed by the Congolese themselves, and is enjoying the broad support of society,” which was an encouraging sign of their preparedness to implement the 14 million post-conflict programme, he added.