Humanitarian aid delivery in DRC under threat

Read more

Darfur clashes worsen Humanitarian situation in the South

IRIN – Weeks of fighting in parts of Darfur have raised concern over the plight of civilians, as insecurity has prompted humanitarian agencies to suspend activities in some areas.

The clashes have led to displacements in eastern Jebel Marra in South Darfur and North Darfur states, and in western Jebel Marra and the Jebel Moon region in West Darfur state, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update on 2 March, stressing that accurate information from the ground was very scarce because of lack of access.

The rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Abdel Wahid Nour faction (SLA-Nour), which refuses to join peace talks with the Sudanese government until a full cessation of hostilities is implemented, has accused government forces of attacking its positions east of Jebel Marra.

Read more

Militias ausing increased havoc in Northeast DRC

IRIN – Eight months after the end of joint military operations by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, many parts of Orientale Province, in northeastern DRC, are still in turmoil, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Attacks on civilians by Ugandan rebels and local militias have left 340,000 people displaced, and 30,000 refugees have fled to Sudan.

“Following attacks by the LRA [Lord’s Resistance Army] in December, there has been a 9 percent rise in the number of displaced in Haut Uélé [near the border with Sudan], and an 11 percent increase in Bas Uélé [near the border with the Central African Republic] compared to earlier months,” said Jean Charles Dupin, head of OCHA in Orientale Province.

Read more

Pakistan Shia IDPs fearful of being Targeted

IRIN – Shias displaced from Orakzai Agency near the Pakistan-Afghan border and now living with hosts in Hangu and Kohat districts, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), say they feel unprotected and vulnerable living alongside other internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are predominantly Sunni.

“We are terrified. The fact is that most of the IDPs here belong to the majority Sunni tribes. Generally we Shias try to keep a low profile by staying indoors with close relatives so we cannot be identified,” said Miran Shah Khan, a 30-year-old IDP from Orakzai tribal area. He said he had instructed his three children to stay “inside all the time”.

Read more

Security Beefed up for North Kivu IDPs

IRIN – Internally displaced people (IDPs) are still being abducted by armed groups for forced labour in several territories in North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) even as authorities beef up security in IDP camps, officials said.

“Men often spend the day away from the [IDP] sites for fear of being abducted, but most abductions occur during the night,” states a 5 February update issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Rutshuru Territory, which has about 129,000 IDPs, is among the most affected.

In southern Walikale Territory, Rwandan Hutu Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia on 28 January attacked civilians in the village of Isuka and abducted seven people, who have yet to be released, to transport looted goods, added OCHA.

Read more

Pakistan Braces for possible IDPs Influx

IRIN – Aid agencies are preparing for an influx of a possible further 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northwestern Pakistan in 2010, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other agencies.

Manuel Bessler, head of OCHA in Pakistan, told IRIN: “The moment we have the ‘Green Light’ from the government we will launch the Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2010, which will help us to coordinate our humanitarian efforts and raise the necessary funds to finance our activities.”

He added: “The humanitarian community operating in Pakistan is well prepared to address the needs of the displaced and other vulnerable people.”

Read more

UN gives $100 million to ‘Neglected Emergencies

IRIN – The UN on 18 January allotted US$100 million to 14 “neglected emergencies”, where significant humanitarian needs remain but funding is scarce.

It is the first round of 2010 allocations from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which was set up to redress gaps in global aid distribution.

The allocation includes $3 million for Haiti but the country’s full funding needs are being re-evaluated following the 12 January earthquake, according to an 18 January communiqué by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since the earthquake CERF allocated an additional $25 million to aid agencies in Haiti.

Read more

IDPs on the Run again as Fighting Hits Beletweyne

IRIN – Thousands of internally displaced in Somalia’s central town of Beletweyne are on the move again following 10 days of fighting between rival Islamist militias, amid reports of continuing heavy shelling in parts of the town.

According to a humanitarian bulletin covering 8-15 January by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Somalia), at least 30 people have been killed and 50 injured, mostly civilians, with many artillery shells landing on residential areas. OCHA could not confirm the number of displaced.

The clashes, which have prevented people accessing basic goods and services, pit Hisbul Islam, a group backed by Al-Shabab, against Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a, another Islamist group. Al-Shabab, which is opposed to the Transitional Federal Government, controls large areas of southern and central Somalia.

Read more

Violence forcing North Kivu civilians out of homes

(IRIN) – Continuing clashes between armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have forced civilians to abandon their homes in North Kivu and affected aid operations, a UN official said.

“These incidents are causing a significant movement of IDPs [internally displaced people] from the area adjacent to Nyabiondo Masisi,” Lt-Col Jean-Paul Dietrich, spokesman for the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC), said.

The national army, FARDC, recently clashed with the Mayi-Mayi group known as the Alliance of People for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS – Alliance du peuple pour un Congo libre et souverain).

Last week, hundreds of IDPs demonstrated near the town of Sake, 30km south of Goma, North Kivu’s capital, blocking a main road.

“The IDPs blocked the Sake-Kitchanga [at Kilolriwe] road, asking humanitarian officials for food,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a brief.

IDPs, it added, had continued to arrive in the region west of Kitchanga, in Masisi territory of North Kivu. Access to the displaced was, however, a problem because of ongoing military operations.

Aid workers could also not access South Lubero (north of Goma) following recurrent incursions by the FDLR (Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda) in the region.

The situation is almost the same in the neighbouring province of South Kivu where, according to OCHA, three people were killed and a woman was raped on the night of 9-10 June in Kabare region.

“On the night of June 20-21, several houses were burned and a health centre looted in the counties of Mianda in the territory of Kalehe,” OCHA said, adding that the attack was attributed to the FDLR.

“According to an initial assessment, 118 houses were burned,” it added. “There is no information on civilian casualties, but there are reports of people drowning as they crossed a river during their escape.”

Local authorities in Nindja, in the territory of Kabare, said most of the civilian population had fled to areas controlled by the DRC army.

Photo: Eddy Isango/IRIN

Former rebels and Mayi-Mayi militiamen integrated into the FARDC: The army recently clashed with the Mayi-Mayi group known as the Alliance of People for a Free and Sovereign Congo – file photo

Fields looted

According to the UN-supported Radio Okapi, hundreds of families have also fled their homes because of insecurity in the North Kivu villages of Kashuga, Kalembe, Malemo, Minjenje, Mpet and Mera.

Callers to the radio station said they no longer had access to their fields for fear of being attacked by rebels and their villages were no longer safe from armed men who also looted their fields.

There were reports from the town of Pinga, about 250km west of Goma, that army troops had looted, erected barriers and were holding civilians at ransom. They were also creating fear and panic in nearby villages.

MONUC said some of the atrocities were attributed to the fact that soldiers have not received their salaries for some time.