MSF warns of aid shortages in Bunia

International humanitarian relief NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned on Friday of a lack of essential supplies to help thousands of displaced people returning to the town of Bunia in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUC, thousands of residents who fled inter-militia fighting in Bunia began returning to their homes last week. Since 6 June, a multinational peace enforcement mission led by the European Union has been deploying in Bunia. Humanitarian agencies had estimated that between 200,000 and 350,000 people fled Bunia and the surrounding region when fighting between Hema and Lendu militias worsened in May. MSF said that current levels of assistance, especially food aid, were insufficient. "With around 1,300 additional people coming to Bunia every day, MSF fears that there will very soon be a significant lack of medical facilities, food distributions, shelter materials and sanitary facilities for the people flocking to open camps in the town," the agency said. MSF said that few families could return directly to their homes because they had been looted and destroyed, while at night insecurity still prevailed in many areas of the town. For its part, MONUC estimated that at the height of the fighting, between 10,000 and 17,000 people sought refuge in its Bunia compound and at the airport, which was also under its control. "The majority of these people are trying to figure out when they can return home, because many of their homes were damaged," Leocardio Salmeron, a MONUC spokesman, told IRIN on Tuesday. "All this means that most people choose to stay in a camp that already houses around 15,000 who live in dire conditions: the returnees have to cater for their own shelter and food - apart from one single food distribution two weeks ago - and they have not been provided with hygienic sanitary facilities," MSF said. An MSF-run hospital in the centre of town helps ill and wounded patients of all ethnic groups, with an average 1,200 consultations per week. The organisation also provides first aid and does medical screening of people returning to town. MSF said the returnees were exhausted, many were ill and children are often malnourished owing to the harsh conditions they have had to survive. Meanwhile, in the surrounding countryside, people remained without access to aid, and it was impossible for humanitarian organisations to assess the situation or extend help outside Bunia. "Bunia is becoming like a partly surrounded refuge where people from the surrounding areas seek safety," Nicolas Louis, head of the MSF mission for Bunia, said.