Renewed heavy fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu Province has pushed some 3,000 Congolese refugees into northern Rwanda where they are in need of humanitarian assistance, says a senior UN official.
“The situation is worsening since humanitarian volunteers are now overwhelmed by the influx of Congolese refugees who are arriving in Rwanda,” Neimah Warsame, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) representative in Rwanda, told reporters on 3 May.
According to Warsame, the refugee influx into the Nkamira transit camp, in the northwest, has prompted a multi-agency relief effort.
In a press release, the Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs said that local administrative leaders, in collaboration with humanitarian volunteers, are screening the refugees arriving at Nkamira.
The refugees are fleeing fighting between the DRC army and troops loyal to the former Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) militia leader Gen. Bosco Ntaganda.
In a May 3 statement, the UN Security Council expressed serious concern over the recent attacks by armed groups in eastern DRC – in particular former elements of the CNDP under the leadership of Ntaganda – against the Congolese armed forces, and called for an immediate end to the rebellion.
Read more of the story here at the IRIN news service:
DRC: Congolese refugees flee fighting into Rwanda
