Congo refugees pour into Burundi, conditions dire, says UN
About 45,000 displaced people are sheltering in a crowded open-air stadium in Rugombo, a few km (miles) from the border with Democratic Republic of Congo where the Congolese army and M23 rebel group are fighting.
'The situation is absolutely dire. Conditions are extremely harsh,' Faith Kasina, the regional spokesperson for East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, told reporters in Geneva.
'The stadium is literally bursting at its seams and there is no additional space for shelter.'
Sanitary conditions inside the stadium are said to be poor with only 10 to 15 stalls of latrines for tens of thousands of people. Many families are being forced to camp in open fields nearby, according to the agency.
'Numbers keep swelling, it's a race against time to try and save lives,' said Kasina, adding that the needs are fast outpacing the aid being provided.
The refugees include a large number of unaccompanied children separated from their families, the agency says.
On 21 February, UNHCR told a press briefing in Geneva that it would seek to move people from the stadium. However logistical challenges mean it takes six to eight hours to move large numbers of people to the Musenyi refugee site in southern Burundi. That site, which can host 10,000 people, is now 60 percent full, according to the agency.
The agency has urged countries to contribute to its emergency appeal for $40.4 million for lifesaving help to support the potential influx of 258,000 refugees into Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia.
The M23 advance is the gravest escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, rooted in the spillover of Rwanda's 1994 genocide into Congo and the struggle for control of Congo's vast mineral resources.
Rwanda rejects allegations by Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports M23 with arms and troops. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia, which it says is fighting with the Congolese military.
Burundi has had its own soldiers in eastern Congo for years, initially to hunt down Burundian rebels there, but more recently, to aid in the fight against M23.
Pro-govt fighters kill 35 civilians
Meanwhile, at least 35 people were killed when pro-government militia attacked a village in the restive eastern DRC, local and security sources said on Friday.
The attack happened at about 3:00 am (0100 GMT) Thursday in the village of Tambi, in the Masisi area of North Kivu province controlled by the M23 armed group.
A security source told AFP that at least 35 people were killed in the attack, while local sources and an eyewitness put the death toll at more than 40.
A community leader and a medical source said villagers had recently returned to the area after having fled fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army and local militia.
'The 'wazalendo' (patriots in Swahili) militia went to attack Tambi where residents had started to return... they opened fire and civilians were killed,' said one community leader, who said 43 people died.
'They put some victims in a church and then shot them. Those who were in the fields were killed there.'
The community leader, a local health worker and a local resident said another group of civilians sought refuge in a house and died when the militia set it on fire.
'We counted 47 bodies in the morning,' the resident said, adding that they were buried in a communal grave.
Some of the victims were unable to be identified because of their burns, he added.
Different groups make up the militia, which has fought alongside the Congolese army against the M23. Their fighters are often accused of attacking civilians.
The M23, which according to UN experts is backed by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, is also accused of abuses.
The armed group resumed its fight against the government in Kinshasa in 2021 and has since seized swathes of territory in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda.
A lightning offensive in recent weeks has seen it capture the provincial capital, Goma, and Bukavu, the main city in the neighboring province of South Kivu.
The DRC's mineral-rich east has been ravaged for three decades by conflict and atrocities.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Gold Hovers Near Three-week Lows before Jackson Hole Summit
Gold ticked up on Wednesday but hovered near three-week lows, as investors looked towards the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting and the Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers this week for cues on further rate cuts. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $3,329.89 per ounce, as of 1140 GMT, after reaching its lowest level since August 1. US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4% to $3,372.80. The US dollar index was steady after climbing to a more than one-week high earlier in the session, making gold more expensive for holders of other currencies. "Spot gold is likely to adhere to its sideways range until the Fed can resume its rate-cutting cycle, while the dollar's month-to-date resilience is also making it harder for it to embark higher," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at investment trading platform Reuters reported. Minutes of the Fed's July meeting, due later in the day, were anticipated to offer further insights into the central bank's economic outlook. "Markets will be looking out for further clues about the dissenting voices from the last FOMC meeting. Gold could even see a slight lift prior to Jackson Hole, should the FOMC minutes show that the dissenting voices at the previous Fed policy meeting were louder than envisioned," Tan said. Fed chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at the central bank's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Gold typically performs well when interest rates are low and during times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. On the international front, US President Donald Trump ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine on Tuesday but suggested air support could be part of a deal to end Russia's war in the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the White House talks were a "major step forward" towards ending the conflict and setting up a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.6% to $37.13 per ounce, platinum gained 1.1% to $1,319.81 and palladium was down 0.4% at $1,111.17.
Saudi Gazette
6 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of planned Gaza City offensive
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it is calling up about 60,000 reservists ahead of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City. A military official said the reservists would report for duty in September and that most of the troops mobilised for the offensive would be active-duty personnel. They added that troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas as part of the preparations for the plan, which Defence Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday and will be put to the security cabinet later this week. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City are expected to be ordered to evacuate and head to shelters in southern Gaza. Many of Israel's allies have condemned the plan, while the UN and non-governmental organisations have warned that another offensive and further mass displacement will have a "horrific humanitarian impact" after 22 months of war. Israel's government announced its intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down last month. Regional mediators are trying to secure an agreement before the offensive begins and have presented a new proposal for a 60-day truce and the release of around half of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, which Hamas said it had accepted on Monday. Israel has not yet submitted a formal response, but Israeli officials insisted on Tuesday that they would no longer accept a partial deal and demanded a comprehensive one that would see all the hostages released. Only 20 of the hostages are believed to be alive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that orders calling up 60,000 reservists were issued on Wednesday as part of the preparations for "the next phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots" - the offensive that it launched in May. In addition, 20,000 reservists who had already been called up would receive a notice extending their current orders, it added. The Israeli military official said senior commanders had approved the plan for a "gradual" and "precise" operation in and around Gaza City, and that the chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, was expected to finalise them in the coming days. Five divisions are expected to take part in the offensive, according to the official. The Haaretz newspaper quoted Defence Minister Katz as saying on Tuesday: "Once the operation is completed, Gaza will change its face and will no longer look as it did in the past." He also reportedly approved a plan to "accommodate" Gaza City residents in the south of the territory, including the coastal al-Mawasi area, where the military has begun establishing additional food distribution points and field hospitals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military's objectives are to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group. The IDF also announced on Wednesday that the Givati Brigade had resumed operations in the northern town of Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, where it said they were "are dismantling military infrastructures above and below ground, eliminating terrorists, and consolidating operational control". It said civilians were being told to move south for their safety "to mitigate the risk of harm". A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the situation was "very dangerous and unbearable" in the city's Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods, where he said "shelling continues intermittently". The agency said Israeli strikes and fire had killed 21 people across Gaza on Wednesday. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that three children and their parents were killed when a house in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, was bombed. UN agencies and NGOs have warned of the humanitarian impact of a new offensive. "The Israeli plan to intensify military operations in Gaza City will have a horrific humanitarian impact on people already exhausted, malnourished, bereaved, displaced, and deprived of basics needed for survival," they said in a joint statement on Monday. "Forcing hundreds of thousands to move south is a recipe for further disaster and could amount to forcible transfer." They also said the areas of the south where displaced residents were expected to move were "overcrowded and ill-equipped to sustain human survival at scale". "Southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity, and taking on patients from the north would have life-threatening consequences." The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed global food security experts have warned that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" due to food shortages. - BBC
Saudi Gazette
6 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
DR Congo rebels killed 140 civilians despite peace process, rights group says
NAIROBI – M23 rebels killed at least 140 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month in one of the worst atrocities by the armed group since its resurgence in late 2021, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. This is despite a peace process, brokered by the US and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region. Witnesses told the advocacy group that the Rwanda-backed rebels "summarily executed" local residents, including women and children, largely from the ethnic Hutu group in the Rutshuru area, near the Virunga National Park. The rebels have previously strongly denied any role in these killings, calling the charges a "blatant misrepresentation of the facts". It did not respond to a request to comment on the report, the rights group said. The alleged massacre appears to have taken place during an M23 campaign against an armed Hutu group, the FDLR, formed by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. HRW said the total killings in July may exceed 300, corroborating similar findings by the UN earlier this month. Fighting between government troops and the M23 escalated in January, when the rebels captured large parts of the mineral-rich east, including the regional capital Goma. Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians forced from their homes in the ongoing conflict, the UN says. In the report released on Wednesday, HRW said the M23 used machetes and gunfire to attack people in at least 14 villages and farming areas near Virunga National Park between 10 and 30 July. The M23 fighters surrounded and blocked off all roads into the area to prevent people from leaving, witnesses said. "We woke up on 11 July and [the M23] were there in large numbers.... [T]hey were already on our doorstep.... [T]hey killed people with guns and machetes," a man narrated, saying that five members of his family were killed in Katanga area. A woman who saw M23 fighters kill her husband with a machete on 11 July said that M23 fighters that day rounded up about 70 women and children. "They told us to sit on the edge of the riverbank, and then they started shooting at us," the woman was quoted as saying, adding that she survived after falling into the river without being shot. Another man said that he watched as the rebels killed his wife and four children aged nine months to 10 years from afar, according to the report. Locals said that M23 fighters told them to immediately bury the bodies in the fields or leave them unburied, preventing families from organising funerals. "M23 fighters also threw bodies, including of women and children, into the Rutshuru River," the report added. Citing 25 witness accounts plus medical workers, military and UN personnel, the report said that members of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), were backing the M23 operation. Earlier this month, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also reported that the RDF had support the M23 killings of "at least 319 between 9 and 21 July in four villages in Rutshuru". Kigali has not responded to the HRW claim, but it has angrily denied the UN accusations, calling them "gratuitous" and "sensational allegations," saying they risked undermining the peace process, and claiming that an armed group opposed to the M23 carried out the killings. Rwanda denies persistent and widespread allegations that it provides military support to the M23, which is largely made up of the Tutsi ethnic group that was targeted by Hutu militias in the genocide. But Kigali does see eastern Congo as a security threat, primarily because of the continued existence of the armed Hutu group, the FDLR, which fights alongside the army. The killings occur amid stalled regional and international peace efforts to end the prolonged deadly conflict, including an agreement between Rwanda and the DRC with provisions for Kinshasa to "neutralize" the FDLR. Separately in Qatar last month, the M23 and the DR Congo government also signed a ceasefire deal, intended as a step towards a permanent peace. But last week, as negotiations were set to resume, the M23 walked away from the peace talks, saying Kinshasa had failed to meet commitments outlined in the declaration of principles. The Congolese army has also accused the M23 of violating the ceasefire. HRW has urged the UN Security Council, the European Union, and governments to condemn grave abuses witnessed in east DR Congo, impose further sanctions on those responsible and press for the arrest and appropriate prosecution of commanders implicated in the conflict. – BBC
