UNHCR moves displaced to new camp in North Kivu
Source: UNHCR
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GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, October 19 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency has begun moving thousands of people displaced by fighting in Democratic Republic of the
Congo's North Kivu province from makeshift settlements to a new camp with essential basic facilities.A first group of 500 people moved on Thursday from Ndosho – a settlement of some 1,000
people with no drinking water or basic sanitation – to the new camp at Buhimba, six kilometres west of Goma, the main town in the area."This is a great day both for the Ndosho IDPs
[internally displaced people] and for us," said Nicolay Colombe, UNHCR acting head of office in Goma. "The transfer of IDPs from makeshift camps to organized sites and the improvement of living
conditions in existing sites, which are breeding grounds for many diseases, remains an imperative for us."Establishment of the 28-hectare site at Buhimba is expected to help decongest several
makeshift sites, including Ndosho and Lac Vert in the Mugunga area, and ensure basic facilities.UNHCR expects to complete the transfers from Ndosho, where many people had been living for a
month, to Buhimba by Friday and then start transferring more than 7,000 internally displaced people (IDP) from Lac Vert to the new camp.Buhimba is the second camp developed by UNHCR for IDPs
in the Mugunga area and it can accommodate more than 10,000 people. Bulengo, the first camp, reached its capacity of 10,000 IDPs at the end of September.Displaced people are continuing to
arrive at sites around Goma. In the last 10 days more than 500 families have reportedly arrived in the Mugunga area. This is just a small part of the overall displacement in North Kivu.Aid
agencies estimate more than 370,000 IDPs have been displaced in North Kivu since December 2006. In the Mugunga area alone, the total number of IDPs has now surpassed the 80,000 mark.UNHCR
fears that many IDPs remain in areas inaccessible to humanitarian agencies as people continue to flee insecurity and fighting between the government forces, renegade troops and rebels in many parts of
North Kivu. The agency is working closely with the authorities to identify additional sites.
More . . .
- Who is an Internally Displaced Person?
From The State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium: Chapter 7 Internally displaced persons- UNHCR "by country" pages:
