18 07 12 UNHCR: Congo-Kinshasa: Top UNHCR Official Visits Congolese Refugees in Uganda, Fears Further Influx

"The situation remains very
fluid across the border [in Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu
province] and there is constant concern that we may yet receive a major influx
which could totally overwhelm our capacity," said Assistant High Commissioner
for Operations Janet Lim, who on Monday visited the Bunagana border crossing
and the Nyakabande Transit Centre.

Since the beginning of the year, more
than 33,500 people have been registered at the transit centre, which lies some
20 kilometres from the border. Stop-start fighting between government forces
and the rebel M23 group since May has led to waves of people fleeing in Uganda,
mainly at Bunagana. According to UN figures, more than 220,000 have been
displaced in North Kivu since April.

In the most recent fighting earlier
this month, the M23 captured the border crossing and almost 7,000 people fled
into Uganda and were registered at Nyakabande, putting a fresh strain on
shelter facilities and water sources.

The large number of arrivals is also
stretching services for the whole district of Kisoro, including water,
sanitation and health and damaging some education facilities and the
environment as some refugees seek somewhere to stay near the border while
waiting or things to improve.

UNHCR Representative in Uganda
Mohammed Adar said there was a need for a joint UN approach in helping the
district to cope with the influx and prevent it from impacting beyond the
transit centre at Nyakabande.

Moreover, due to funding problems,
the World Food Programme (WFP) has had to cut cereal rations for all refugees
around the country. "This is of great concern to us," said Adar,
adding that the ration cut could impact new arrivals.

"The recent refugee influx has
put a strain on WFP's resources," said the WFP country director, Sory
Ouane, who accompanied Lim. "The refugee programme was already
under-funded, now we have to support tens of thousands more new people,"
he added, while warning of the possibility of further ration cuts.

Assistant High Commissioner Lim
addressed refugees at a meeting in Nyakabande, where the refugees where
strongly encouraged to relocate to the safety and services of Rwamwanja
settlement, 350 kilometres to the north, because of the fragile situation
across the border. The settlement was opened in April and to date 15,931
refugees have relocated there, helping to decongest Nyakabande, where there
were an estimated 11,570 refugees on Monday.

Lim met district officials in Kisoro
before visiting the Bunagana border crossing, where they were briefed by border
security and immigration officials. The situation at Bunagana remains
relatively calm, with mainly normal cross-border movement of locals from either
side of the border observed. M23 soldiers were seen on Monday manning customs,
immigration and road checkpoints.

Bunagana has been the main crossing
point for people fleeing North Kivu, but UNHCR's Adar said that as the fighting
shifted more people were coming across at different points to the north of
Bunagana, such as Ishasha and Busanza. "UNHCR is faced with challenges of
access due to bad roads," said Adar, highlighting another challenge for
the refugee agency.

Lim visited the south-west with
government officials and David Robinson, a senior official at the US State
Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Before heading back
to Kampala, she praised local and central Ugandan authorities for their
cooperation and commended UNHCR field staff for "doing their utmost to
cover the most urgent needs in a cost effective way" at a time when the
refugee agency has several emergency operations.

Lim and Robinson stressed that donors
and humanitarian agencies working in Kisoro also needed to be sensitive to the
needs of the local population.

The conflict in North Kivu has also
forced almost 20,000 people to flee to Rwanda since late April, while tens of
thousands have been displaced in North Kivu.