Aid workers battle to help desperate refugees

IRIN – With at least 67,000 refugees in southwest Uganda, the government and aid workers are still battling inadequate resources in what a UN official described as a “silent emergency”.

“We can hardly meet international standards of indicators such as water, health and food,” Nemia Temporal, deputy representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Uganda, told IRIN on 8 March. “For instance, we are delivering 15 litres [of water] per person per day instead of the standard 20l.”

After years of protracted conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with large influxes to neighbouring countries, the situation of the majority Congolese refugees is no longer considered that urgent by the wider aid community, Temporal said.

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