Congo: IDPs and returnees face lack of support
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
Website: http://www.internal-displacement.org
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Four years after a peace agreement brought an end to more than a decade of conflict in the Republic of Congo's Pool region in the south of the country, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), returnees and residents still face considerable humanitarian challenges.Although the number of IDPs has decreased and the situation is no longer characterised as an acute humanitarian crisis, the majority of the displaced who have returned to Pool are facing hardship. No systematic assessment of the number of IDPs has been undertaken. However, the government estimates that there are still 7,800 people unable to return to their homes, down from 800,000 at the peak of the disturbances in the 1990s. The displaced are not easily identifiable as they live with families and host communities.
Since the end of the fighting in 2003, little has been done to reconstruct and rehabilitate social and public infrastructure in Pool region. The fighting between Lari rebels and the government in the region resulted in massive organised looting, the burning of houses, destruction of the rural economy and infrastructure, as well as devastating the social fabric of the Lari people. Despite much rhetoric, since the end of the conflict the government's efforts to invest in the recovery and development of the region have not reflected the level of the needs. For instance, no comprehensive health care service has been provided to the population of Pool where the mortality rates are higher than in the rest of the country. Instability due to the presence of former rebels, or bandits claiming to be rebels, who continue to roam parts of the region uncontrolled, hampers mobility for civilians and humanitarian agencies. Violent incidents and lack of funding have forced some of these latter to pull out temporarily or permanently from the region which is still faced with vast reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. The repeated harassments and massive human rights violations in the region have left many people, including an unknown number of IDPs and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
anised looting, the burning of houses, destruction of the rural economy and infrastructure, as well as devastating the social fabric of the Lari people. Despite much rhetoric, since the end of the conflict the government's efforts to invest in the recovery and development of the region have not reflected the level of the needs. For instance, no comprehensive health care service has been provided to the population of Pool where the mortality rates are higher than in the rest of the country. Instability due to the presence of former rebels, or bandits claiming to be rebels, who continue to roam parts of the region uncontrolled, hampers mobility for civilians and humanitarian agencies. Violent incidents and lack of funding have forced some of these latter to pull out temporarily or permanently from the region which is still faced with vast reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. The repeated harassments and massive human rights violations in the region have left many people, including an unknown number of IDPs and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
Since the end of the fighting in 2003, little has been done to reconstruct and rehabilitate social and public infrastructure in Pool region. The fighting between Lari rebels and the government in the region resulted in massive organised looting, the burning of houses, destruction of the rural economy and infrastructure, as well as devastating the social fabric of the Lari people. Despite much rhetoric, since the end of the conflict the government's efforts to invest in the recovery and development of the region have not reflected the level of the needs. For instance, no comprehensive health care service has been provided to the population of Pool where the mortality rates are higher than in the rest of the country. Instability due to the presence of former rebels, or bandits claiming to be rebels, who continue to roam parts of the region uncontrolled, hampers mobility for civilians and humanitarian agencies. Violent incidents and lack of funding have forced some of these latter to pull out temporarily or permanently from the region which is still faced with vast reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. The repeated harassments and massive human rights violations in the region have left many people, including an unknown number of IDPs and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
anised looting, the burning of houses, destruction of the rural economy and infrastructure, as well as devastating the social fabric of the Lari people. Despite much rhetoric, since the end of the conflict the government's efforts to invest in the recovery and development of the region have not reflected the level of the needs. For instance, no comprehensive health care service has been provided to the population of Pool where the mortality rates are higher than in the rest of the country. Instability due to the presence of former rebels, or bandits claiming to be rebels, who continue to roam parts of the region uncontrolled, hampers mobility for civilians and humanitarian agencies. Violent incidents and lack of funding have forced some of these latter to pull out temporarily or permanently from the region which is still faced with vast reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. The repeated harassments and massive human rights violations in the region have left many people, including an unknown number of IDPs and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
and returnees, deeply traumatised and impoverished, and largely neglected by the international community. With the decision of the leader of the rebel movement to transform it into a political party, it is expected that about 5,000 former rebel fighters in Pool region will be demobilised as part of the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme. Consequently there is hope that the security situation will improve and lead to more government investment in the currently isolated region. (...)
Read Full Overview (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
Internal Displacement Profile
Iraq country page
Contact:
Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer
Head of Monitoring and Advocacy Department
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Chemin de Balexert 7-9
CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva)
Tel.: +41 (22) 799 07 03
Fax +41 (22) 799 07 01
www.internal-displacement.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
