DATE=7/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=UNHCR / CONGO REFUGEES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264653
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R,
says it has received reports of large numbers of
refugees fleeing from Congo-Kinshasa to villages along
the Ubangui River on the Congo-Brazzaville side of the
river. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the agency says
the refugees are escaping intensified fighting between
government and rebel forces in Congo-Kinshasa.
TEXT: The United Nations Refugee Agency says it has
received a letter from refugees trapped by fighting in
the town of Njoundou. The refugees managed to get the
letter describing their plight on a barge headed for a
town where the U-N-H-C-R has an office. Njoundou,
where the refugees are trapped, is north of where the
Ubangui and Congo rivers meet. It is one of several
villages in the area that is cut off from humanitarian
assistance.
U-N-H-C-R spokesman, Ron Redmond says the letter
reports there now are more than 20-thousand refugees
in the village. He says when a U-N team went to
Njoundou almost two weeks ago, it counted about five-
thousand-200 people. He says the team also reported
an outbreak of shigella, a cholera-like disease among
the refugees.
/// REDMOND ACT ///
Since then, we've not been able to get in there.
We've been expressing our concern about these
people and now the numbers appear to have
tripled the number of refugees there. Although
this latest information of thousands more
arrivals cannot be confirmed, crew members of a
river barge, which passed Njoundou, confirmed
that the village appeared to be jammed with
recently arrived Congolese and that many
appeared to be without shelter.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Redmond says the barge was returning to the
Congolese capital, Brazzaville. He says the same
barge had earlier been detained by troops from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo -- or D-R-C -- on the
other side of the river. He says authorities in
Congo-Brazzaville have advised aid workers not to go
on the river north of Liranga.
/// REDMOND ACT TWO ///
It's a warning we take seriously because a team
of U-N-H-C-R and N-G-O (EDS: non-government
organization) staff were intercepted by D-R-C
troops on that stretch of river in May and had
been detained for several days. Also, the
fighting and presence of D-R-C military vessels
in that region have brought traffic along this
usually busy portion of the river to a virtual
standstill.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Redmond says the U-N Refugee Agency has appealed
urgently to authorities of both Congo-Kinshasa and
Congo-Brazzaville to safeguard humanitarian operations
and to facilitate the immediate travel of a barge
carrying tons of desperately needed relief supplies.
In another development, Mr. Redmond says five-thousand
other Congolese refugees have been discovered in a
remote village. He estimates the number of refugees
in Congo-Brazzaville has increased to between 60-
thousand and 65-thousand. (Signed)
NEB/LS/GE/JP
21-Jul-2000 09:14 AM LOC (21-Jul-2000 1314 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
