1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Congo, Republic of

UNHCR assists Pool refugees

Some 8,500 refugees have arrived in the Luozi area of Bas-Congo from the Pool region of Congo-Brazzaville, a UNHCR spokesman told IRIN yesterday. The refugees have fled fighting between Congolese government forces and Ninja militia in Pool over the past two months, he said. A recent UNHCR mission to the area found that the refugees were meeting their own basic food needs. However, a continuation of fighting would threaten trade lines on which the refugees depend for their food and other basic supplies, he said. The current priority needs are for medical assistance and soap, the spokesman added. Meanwhile, heavy weapons fire could be heard again today in Brazzaville coming from the Pool region, some 20 km from the capital, and displaced populations were continuing to arrive in the city, humanitarian sources said. Yesterday, government soldiers looted shops and harassed their owners in the southern part of Brazzaville, news agencies reported. Police fired into the air to disperse the looting troops, AFP said.

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

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join