LIFE-SAVING EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE UNDER WAY IN ITURI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

OF CONGO, SAYS UN HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR

 

BUNIA, 8 February (OCHA) -- Humanitarian organizations have begun the delivery of much-needed emergency assistance to the survivors of an attack on Tché, District of Ituri.  Over 10,000 people are now gathered in the area, seeking protection from further attacks by FNI militia.

“Life-saving emergency assistance is under way in Tché”, confirmed RossMountain, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  “Food and other essential items such as blankets, cooking equipment, soap and clothes have been distributed to the vulnerable population congregating in the area by humanitarian organizations.”  The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) forces have also provided potable water to those gathered in Tché.

Humanitarian organisations reacted almost immediately to this emergency, one of a growing number of crisis situations developing across Ituri District since the beginning of the year.  The swift response to these emergencies was in part made possible by the joint United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)-managed Rapid Response Fund, which provided the non-food items for distribution, as well as funding intervening partner operations.

“Continuing insecurity in the Territory of Djugu is likely to provoke more displacements in the near future”, said Mr. Mountain.  “I am increasingly concerned for the plight of the people of Ituri.  Over 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area since the beginning of the year, and are now surviving in increasingly difficult circumstances.  We have a humanitarian crisis brewing.”

Humanitarians are providing life-saving assistance but want to avoid the establishment of a camp in the area around Tché, which is currently being secured by MONUC.  “People are naturally seeking the security of a camp”, said the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator.  “However, our first priority must be to help them return home as quickly as the security situation allows, providing them with the humanitarian assistance necessary for them to restart their shattered lives”, he continued.

Elsewhere in the Territory of Djugu, over 25,000 people have been displaced towards the towns of Kasenyi and Tchomia on the shorefront of Lake Albert, following hostilities in the Nyamamba area that began at the end of December.  Further north, an estimated 14,000 people are seeking refuge in the town of Kafe.  Other families have fled to Muhito, just 15 kilometres north of Bunia, where over 5,000 displaced, mainly women and children, are now seeking shelter.  Humanitarian assistance to the displaced populations in all these areas is already under way.

Over 50,000 people have died since hostilities between Lendu and Hema groups erupted into violence in the District of Ituri in 1999.

For further information, please contact Rachel Scott Leflaive, Public Information, OCHA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, scottleflaive@un.org, tel.:  +243 81 98 60 444.

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