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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC-UGANDA: Congolese refugees relocate to UN settlement

NAIROBI, 7 August 2003 (IRIN) - Thousands of Congolese refugees who have been living in a temporary camp near Lake Albert, on the Uganda-Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have begun to relocate to an inland settlement in Uganda with the help of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency reported on Wednesday.

Initially, the refugees had refused to move to the UNHCR's Kyaka II settlement following claims that there were poisonous snakes, man-eating lions and blood-sucking insects in the area. UNHCR recently took a number of the refugees to Kyaka II to verify for themselves the conditions of the settlement.

"The environment is quite good for farming," Stephen Ngule, 39, one of the refugees who visited Kyaka II, said. "And if they continue to treat us as well as we have been received, it will be fine here."

UNHCR reported that Ngule planned to return to Ntoroko, a town south of Lake Albert, where refugees who fled fighting in eastern (DRC) had sought shelter, to relocate his wife, three children and other relatives to Kyaka II.

"This is where there is food, shelter, a place to grow crops, schools, health care, Alice Litunya, UNHCR official, was quoted as saying. "We want them to come here. Of course if things change in the DRC, we will help them go home."

The UN agency said that up to 10,000 Congolese refugees had been sheltering in Ugandan villages along the shores of Lake Albert since they fled fighting in the DRC's eastern Ituri District in May, when Ugandan forces withdrew.

It said that the Ugandan government's policy was that refugees could only be assisted in settlements, therefore the UNHCR was relocating the refugees to enable them have access to vital services.

The UNHCR reported that by the end of July, 138 Congolese refugees had left Ntoroko for Kyaka II, where they received food and medical treatment, and were allocated plots of land for farming. The agency added that another 154 refugees moved to Kyaka II from Karugutu, a small town inland from Lake Albert.

The agency added that a further 150 families have signed up to relocate to Kyaka II later this week.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

[ENDS]

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