Displacement continues in Gulu and Kitgum

Nearly the entire population of northern Uganda’s Gulu town has been displaced following attacks by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest update. It estimated the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Gulu at 370,000. In Kitgum, also in northern Uganda, it said there were some 82,000 IDPs in government camps but “perhaps another 10-20,000 in transient or unofficial camps”. It said security remained “very poor” in large parts of the two towns because LRA rebels had continued to attack civilians and engage in battles with the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), it said.

In mid-June, there were at least two LRA attacks on refugee and national settlements, the update said. “In both cases the rebels looted food and non-food items.” Rebel presence and UPDF manoeuvres have “regularly prevented” humanitarian organisations from travelling outside Gulu and Kitgum. Many organisations, including WFP, travel with armed UPDF escort. Many agencies have been forced to delay humanitarian programmes because of the fighting.