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A group of 576 disarmed soldiers from the Central African Republic (CAR), who became refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a failed coup attempt in May 2001, claim they have been "forgotten".
The soldiers are stationed in Bokilio, about 125 km southeast of Zongo, a border town between the two countries in the northern province of Equateur.
"The MLC [Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo which governs the area] has left us to our sad fate," said a former chief of police, speaking on the UN's Radio Okapi.
The 576 former soldiers were separated from civilians - who also fled the fighting in the CAR capital Bangui - shortly after their arrival in the DRC in 2001.
"Nobody gives us food to eat, or medicines," complained the former head of police.
The MLC authorities say they have done all they can. "We disarmed them and put them in a camp in Gbadolite, the rest is up to the humanitarian community," said the MLC secretary general, Lunda Bululu, in Kinshasa.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, also says it is assisting them. "We are looking after the refugees well, even the former military who were disarmed and installed in Bokilio," Kalassa M'siri, a UNHCR press officer, told IRIN.
According to UNHCR, 3,447 Central African civilians are accommodated in a camp in the town of Mole, about 35 km from Zongo.
There are officially 4,500 CAR refugees in the DRC, but UNHCR officials say that others are present who remain unregistered.
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
