Plea for aid for returning refugees

Some 360 refugees, who recently returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Burundi, are living in pathetic conditions in an abandoned warehouse and risk dying from diseases such as cholera, malaria and diarrhoea if nothing is done to relocate them immediately, Refugees International, an advocacy group, reported on Thursday. "From their arrival on Saturday night to the time of this writing the three hundred and sixty refugees have been without any means preventative disinfections or cleaning," RI reported in a statement. According to RI, the doors and windows of the warehouse, which once served as a cotton depot, were looted in 1993 and its roof is perforated by bullet holes, yet no plastic sheeting has been provided to protect the refugees against the elements. "Furthermore, no latrines are around except those that belong to neighbours, but using them would likely spark tensions and hostility," RI said. The refugees, Congolese Tutsis known as the Banyamulenge, were stranded for two days on the Burundi-DRC border after residents of Uvira held demonstrations during which they pelted the returnees with stones. They were opposed to the return of the Banyamulenge, whom they consider to be foreigners because of their Rwandan descent. The refugees had fled fighting in June between loyalist and dissident Congolese-army troops. Among other recommendations, RI said the local government authorities in Uvira should provide immediate help to the returnees "trapped in the warehouse and implement urgent resettlement or return actions". The government should also take responsibility for preparing basic reception conditions for Congolese refugees living in Burundi, who wish to return home, RI said. It appealed to UN-aid agencies and other humanitarian actors to devise an assistance strategy in collaboration with the local authorities. "The lack of proper hygiene is increasing the risk of diseases because returnees are using the same space for multiple services: cooking, showering and sleeping," RI said. "Men and women are being forced to live in close proximity to one another, even though they come from a traditional and conservative society," it added. "The local authorities could and should make an effort to provide separate quarters for men and women." In Burundi, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a statement on Friday, saying thousands of the Congolese refugees who had fled fighting at home in June had left the transit centres near the border with the DRC. "Many have gone back to eastern Congo - some have crossed into Rwanda, while many others have left for a new UNHCR refugee camp in the middle of Burundi," UNHCR said. Almost 20,000 Congolese refugees were counted in July at the three border transit centres at Rugombo and Karurama in the northwestern province of Cibitoke and at Gatumba in Bujumbura Rural Province, UNHCR reported. "Now we estimate that only about 4,000 remain in need of UNHCR assistance in Burundi," it added. An attack on the Gatumba camp in mid-August left some 160 Congolese Tutsi dead and hundreds others wounded. UNHCR moved survivors to schools and other temporary shelters nearby. The refugee agency said many refugees had opted for a new UNHCR camp at Gihinga, in the central province of Mwaro in Burundi, and that some Banyamulenge from the Karurama transit centre had reportedly crossed into Rwanda, seeking shelter with friends and relatives. It said 100 of the refugees entered Rwanda on Wednesday and that Burundian authorities in Cibitoke had reported that another 1,000 had registered to cross into Rwanda. "However, Banyamulenge refugees trying to re-enter the DRC have sometimes been rebuffed by border authorities there and have been subject to anti-Tutsi demonstrations in Uvira in the DRC," the agency said. "We are arranging for monitors to assess the position at the border," it added. [The RI report: www.refugeesinternational.org]