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Over 6,000 Hema refugees in Bundibugyo - UNHCR

In the past fortnight, ethnic clashes between the Hema and Lendu communities in Ituri province, northeastern DRC, have sent over 6,000 Hema refugees into the Bundibugyo District of western Uganda, according to UNHCR. The refugee agency had opened two transit camps in the district to receive more than 6,000 people scattered in villages along the DRC-Ugandan border area, along with some 25,000 head of cattle, spokeswoman Delphine Marie told journalists in Geneva on Friday. Bundibugyo was already hosting some 8,000 Congolese and about 100,000 Ugandans displaced by the war being waged by the Ugandan rebel Allied Democratic Forces. The international NGO Action Against Hunger (AAH) on Friday put the number of refugees who had crossed to Bundibugyo at 8,000, and cited reports of people in Ituri “going from house to house... killing Hema people systematically.” Many of the new refugee arrivals were dispersed, and were staying with family and friends, AAH added. UNHCR was considering the transfer of new arrivals to Kyaka refugee camp, which already has a population of 2,200, Delphine Marie stated. An estimated 1,000 of the Hema refugees had swum across the Semliki River, south of Lake Albert, with their cattle in the second week on January, according to UNHCR. Another group reportedly crossed further north and were now scattered along a 50 km stretch between Ntoroko and Rubashiengu, 90 km north of Bundibugyo, she said. “Similar clashes in the past have triggered refugee movements into Uganda but the displaced populations usually returned to the DRC after a few weeks,” Marie added.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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