The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) is alarmed by the new displacements in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, where it says 7,000 Central African Republic refugees have arrived in under a week into a situation of little help and desperate need.
The agency says most of the refugees are women and children, and that they are concentrated in the remote village of Kanzawi in the DR Congo’s northern Bas-Uele Province. They fled the violence in south-eastern Central African Republic.
The refugees have reported they’re trying to escape the conflict between two Anti-Balaka groups in the area of Kouango, just across the border.
In less than a year, the number of CAR refugees in DR Congo has grown from around 102,000 to more than 182,000, not including the latest arrivals.
Following these increased arrivals of refugees in the DR Congo, UNHCR has called for increased support to enable better humanitarian response. The agency is particularly worried about the situation of elderly people, pregnant women and others with specific needs.
The UNHCR says its capacity for an emergency response is severely stretched, with the DR Congo operations funded at just US $1.6 for every US $10 needed.
Even so, the UNHCR commended the DR Congo for keeping its borders open to refugees.
It also appealed to the international community to chip in and provide more funding to aid in humanitarian initiatives towards the refugees whose arrivals continue each day.
