DRC

13,000 Congolese flee to Uganda

Article published on the 2008-11-27 Latest update 2008-11-27 18:29 TU

A woman leans on a family member in Rutshuru
(Credit: Reuters)

Some 13,000 people from the Democratic Republic of Congo have fled to neighbouring Uganda to escape the violence, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday. The UNHCR says that the majority are residents of the Rutshuru district, where Congolese forces and local Mai-Mai militia are fighting rebels led by rogue General Laurent Nkunda.

UNHCR aid workers in the Ugandan border town of Ishasha have received 10,000 people in the last five hours and expect more, UNHCR spokesperson Roberta Russo told RFI on Thursday afternoon.

"Some are coming from villages that were directly attacked from the rebels, and they tell us that they have lost all their family members. It's a miracle they escaped and that they managed to walk towards Uganda," said Russo.  

She said that those who have arrived over the border in Ishasha are exhausted and have been traumatized by seeing dead bodies along the way during the two-to-three-day trek.

"What the people are saying is that all the people in the villages are being killed, the young boys are being taken away by the rebels, and the rest of the population is being killed," she added.

Laurent Nkunda, the head of the rebels, told RFI that his men are not targeting civilians. 

"We are not against the people. There were some fighting and the people ahve the fear. It's normal for them to do that. We are not against the population and we cannot kill people. We are here for them," said Nkunda.

The refugees who have made it over the border will be transported  via bus to the interior of Uganda Friday morning, said Russo, adding that it was unsafe to stay by the border and unsafe to travel at night.

In related news, former world leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African President F.W. de Klerk, called on the European Union to send a temporary emergency force to the eastern DRCongo to help protect the civilians.

The United Nations is already in line to send 3,000 more peacekeepers to the region, but the Congolese government has rejected the idea if Indian troops would reinforce the area.