17 07 13 UNHCR: Uganda: UNHCR Fears for Welfare of Congolese Refugees in Uganda Hills – Worried About Fighting Near Goma

Meanwhile, renewed
fighting has broken out near the North Kivu
provincial capital, Goma, between government forces and the M23 rebel movement
after a two-month lull. A senior UNHCR official in Kinshasa said the fighting since Sunday
around Mutaho was "ongoing and intensifying."

UNHCR fears that
continuing clashes could lead to a major new outflow of people to neighbouring
countries. The fighting erupted days after the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF),
a Ugandan rebel group, captured the North Kivu town of Kamango. causing tens of thousands of
civilians to flee across the border into Uganda.

As of Sunday night, the
Uganda Red Cross, had manually registered more than 66,000 people. UNHCR and
its partners have completed joint assessment missions and begun moving food and
non-food aid to the area. The refugees are living in any space available,
including schools and with host families.

A transit centre is now
open some 20
kilometres from the border in Bubukwanga sub-county.
Approaching 2,000 people have been transported there since Saturday, but many
refugees are reluctant to move from the hilly border region, where there has
been cross-border toing and froing during daylight hours as people return to
their nearby towns or villages to get food and check on their crops at harvest
time.

At the same time, and
although the Congolese government is encouraging people to come back, refugees
are not willing to return immediately to their homes because of the continuing
dangerous situation in this region of North Kivu.

While Kamango is quiet,
empty and back in government hands, UNHCR has received reports of clashes in
three other areas, including an ADF ambush of a UN peace-keeping vehicle, which
was repelled by a helicopter gunship on Friday. The situation remains very
fluid.

Moving the refugees to
safer areas is now a main challenge. "We are worried about their current
situation, as the conditions that many are living in are dire," a UNHCR
spokesman said. "People are dotted across a hilly area where it is very
cold at night and where it is difficult to find drinking water and food.
Sanitation and hygiene facilities are almost non-existent. We believe that the
longer they stay at the border, the more likely there will be outbreaks of
disease," he added.

That is why UNHCR is
trying to persuade the refugees that if they wish to receive protection,
shelter and assistance they should come to the transit centre, which can hold
10,000 people, and another 10,000
once additional land becomes accessible.

It will also enable UNHCR
and the government of Uganda
to do a more thorough registration of the refugees and identify those most in
need of protection and assistance.

UNHCR is talking to
community leaders to encourage the refugees to move and some families have
started moving vulnerable family members to the transit centre. Meanwhile, the
refugee agency plans to send technical staff with health, and water, sanitation
and hygiene expertise to Bundibugyo as part of the emergency response.

Separately, UNHCR is also
concerned about the situation further south in North Kivu and close to Goma,
where fresh fighting erupted on Sunday afternoon at Mutaho, almost 10 kms north
of the provincial capital.

UNHCR staff in Goma,
which was captured and briefly held by the M23 in the last major fighting last
November, said the city was tense but that most activities were continuing as
normal. However, the two banks in Goma did not open on Tuesday. "People
are worried and people are going home very early [by 6pm]," said a UNHCR
protection office.

Violence and lawlessness
in this area of North Kivu is also causing
displacement, including preventive displacement. With a deteriorating situation
in Masisi Territory
– to the northwest of Goma – a steady stream of about 600 people a week has
been crossing into Uganda's
Kisoro district.

Commenting on the fresh
fighting between the Congolese armed forces and the M23, the UNHCR spokesman
said: "More skirmishes are likely and we fear that they could trigger a
bigger exodus."

Meanwhile, for the
refugee arrivals in Uganda's
Bundibugyo district, UNHCR has sent plastic sheeting for shelter construction,
plates and cups, and temporary latrine kits as well as soap.

The agency has also
provided fuel for transfers to the transit centre. On Monday, UNHCR sent an
additional emergency shipment of tents, plastic rolls, blankets, sleeping mats
and fuel. Other items such as larger tents for office use as well as plastic
tables and chairs are also being arranged.

The World Food Programme
has delivered enough food to feed 20,000 people for five days, with more food due
to arrive on Thursday. The Ugandan Red Cross has organized communities to cook
and serve hot meals, while the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners
are providing water.

Even before the arrival
of the newest refugees, Uganda
was already home to more than 210,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers,
more than 60 per cent of whom came from the DRC.