UNHCR expecting more refugees and soldiers from DRC

Up to 10,000 refugees and government soldiers are poised to cross into Zambia to escape fighting in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a UNHCR representative told IRIN on Tuesday. John Tabayi, UNHCR representative in Kawambwa in the northern province of Luapula, said that ongoing clashes between DRC forces and rebels around the town of Pepa in the DRC’s southeastern Shaba province would drive many more people into neighbouring Zambia. “Those who have crossed say thousands more are on their way,” Tabayi said.

“About 3,000 people have crossed since 13 November, 547 of these are DRC government troops. They were supposed to guard the town of Pepa but ran away when it was taken by rebel forces,” he added. According to Tabayi, the soldiers were disarmed at the Zambian border. Fifteen of them have renounced their military status and would become refugees, but the rest want safe passage through Zambia back into government-controlled areas of the DRC.

The soldiers are being held under armed guard in a separate compound from the refugees in the Zambian border town of Kaputa. This is partly because relations between the fugitive soldiers and the refugees are reported to be bad, with the troops blamed for not defending Pepa and allowing it to fall to the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD).
Tabayi said that UNHCR was just about coping with the current influx of 150 refugees a day. “About 2,000 had already been moved to Kala refugee camp in Luapula Province, many are exhausted, having walked for up to a week to escape Pepa,” he noted.

But UNHCR said it was worried that if the DRC border town of Pweto on Lake Mweru is attacked by the RCD they would face a far bigger refugee problem. “If Pweto falls we could be swamped by up to 200,000 people and we would face a crisis,” Tabayi warned.
Rebel groups in DRC, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, are fighting to oust President Laurent Kabila who has kept the rebellion at bay with military help from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.