DRC: Humanitarian situation in Ituri ''remains worrying'' - UN

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

DRC: Humanitarian situation in Ituri ''remains worrying'' - UN

NAIROBI , 21 August (IRIN) - The humanitarian situation in the region of Ituri, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) "remains worrying", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the DRC reported on Tuesday, with an estimated 10,000 families having been displaced in the city of Bunia due to fighting in July and in the past couple of weeks.

"While it is true that the markets and businesses of Bunia have reopened, the security situation remains highly volatile, and the terror has not subsided," OCHA said. "Injured people who seek out health facilities for first aid leave the facilities before being fully treated because they feel too exposed to potential attacks."

According to OCHA, humanitarian agencies have received "a considerable number" of requests for evacuation or asylum from people of all communities in Bunia, while many other people are living in hiding. Furthermore, people continue to leave Bunia by plane, car, or most often on foot, and a steady wave of people has been seen heading south towards Beni, some 150 km to the south, and towards the northern areas of Ituri.

Although a preliminary shipment of 14 mt of humanitarian aid consisting of food and non-food items and medicine had reached Bunia by plane on 16 August from the DRC capital, Kinshasa, it was insufficient to meet current needs, OCHA reported. "Only 7,600 families of the 10,000 displaced families at present will receive emergency assistance, and the food aid to be distributed will only last eight days."

In the meantime, the World Food Programme has authorised the use of local stocks of food to meet the current emergency needs of the city. Distribution should begin on Thursday, once lists of beneficiaries have been finalised, and will take place in eight sites in Bunia selected by the humanitarian community.

Water and sanitation also remain of primary concern, and the humanitarian community is in dire need of water purification equipment and tablets, according to OCHA.

On the health front, thanks to stocks already in place and the medicine sent on 16 August from Kinshasa, the humanitarian community, in collaboration with local health officials, is offering free medical treatment in Bunia for the 20 to 26 August week. Patients will be received in 16 different health centres, covering most districts of the city.

"Although some 100 injuries have thus far been reported, this figure is probably an underestimate, as access to the neighbourhoods of Mudzipela and Kindja has not yet been possible due to continued gunfire," said OCHA.

The latest round of fighting erupted on 6 August when ethnic Hema militias, supported by the Ugandan army and the Union des patriotes congolais - a dissident faction of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation - seized control of most of Bunia and took charge of local government.

[A useful background document produced by Human Rights Watch on conflict in the northeastern DRC region can be found at:
]

Bunia, with a population of about 300,000 people, is located less than 50 km from the Ugandan border.

[ENDS]

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