IMPROVED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS NEEDED IN BUKAVU, SAYS UN EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

IMPROVED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS needed IN BuKAVU,

says un emergency relief coordinator

NEW YORK, 11 June (OCHA) -- Since fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo erupted around Bukavu on 26 May, there have been reports that sexual violence has been widespread and that some 50 civilians have been killed.

“International Humanitarian Law obliges warring parties to protect civilians from harm. There cannot be impunity for abuse against civilians like rape or murder,” said Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Personnel of United Nations humanitarian agencies and their non-governmental organization partners have been attacked and their equipment damaged.  Due to fighting and civil unrest, humanitarian programs in food security, health care, water, education, and protection for some 3.3 million people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have largely been suspended.  Humanitarian agencies’ capacity to respond has been further limited as offices and supplies have been widely looted in the recent chaos.  Another worrying implication of access limitations is that humanitarian workers cannot carry out programs to combat cholera in Katanga province, so an outbreak of that disease is now far more likely.

“Without security for aid workers, there can be no access to people in need.  I call on those involved in the recent fighting to provide humanitarian workers with the safe and unhindered access they need to deliver aid to affected populations”, said Mr. Egeland.  “I appeal to donors to urgently provide funding for organizations who lost offices, vehicles and equipment in the lootings throughout DRC”, he continued.

Some 2,800 people have fled into neighbouring Rwanda since the recent violence began.  More than 1,000 persons are seeking shelter in the already overcrowded compound of a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Cyangugu, Rwanda.  Further, the closure of the Rwandan border has left humanitarian agencies unable to fully resume their work in the area.

Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies in Burundi report that Congolese fleeing reprisals and exactions in Uvira have arrived in Burundi, with approximately 1,600 arrivals in Bujumbura rural province and another 1,500 arrivals in Cibitoke province.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs New York, tel.:  917 367 5126, mobile:  917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Geneva, tel.:  41 22 917 2653, mobile:  41 (0)79 473 4570.

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