Caleb Bahikaho
18 November 2008
Kampala — OVER 1,000 Congolese refugees have entered Uganda since Tuesday last week. This brings the number of Congolese refugees in Kanungu district to 3,290, up from 2,011 in just six days.
In the past three days, more refugees have fled their homes in Congo following renewed fighting by the government forces and the rebels royal to Gen. Laurent Nkunda who has failed to honour a ceasefire.
Gamia Rwereno, one of the refugees, said they fled from their homes following the capture of Rwampidi town by the rebels on Sunday afternoon, saying the rebels vowed to attack civilians for supporting the government army.
"We were told that the army attacked the rebels and killed several of them and the rebels thought that we, the civilians, were behind the attack. They decided to surround us and started killing all males. This scared us, so we had to escape and save our lives," he said.
Benjamin Charles Cadet, the Uganda Red Cross Official at the Ishasha border, who is overseeing the refugee registration, confirmed that they had registered 3,290 refugees since the violence erupted in August.
Most of them have been transferred to Nakivale Refugee Camp.
Cadet said the group, which arrived on Monday, was traumatised following the long distance they walked through Congo jungles to get to the border.
He said the Red Cross was organising counselling sessions for them before they are taken to Nakivale.
However, the Red Cross officials are overwhelmed by the large number of refugees and have appealed for the construction of more pit latrines in order to avert a cholera outbreak in the area.
Kanungu LC5 chairperson Josephine Kasya recently told journalists that the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, had provided two tanks of clean water.
The only source of water in the area is River Ishasha, which is shared by residents and animals.
Kasya added that there was only one latrine in the market and called for increased humanitarian support to the area.
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