Haut Uele: UNHCR bracing for return of Congolese refugees
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Dungu, district of Haut-Uele, Eastern Province, noticed since early 2014, a flow of Congolese refugees returning home from Makpandu camp, in the South Sudan, about 60 Km away from the Congolese border.
Since 2008, progressive sedentarization of roughly 357 000 people was noticed, following recurrent activities of the Ugandan rebels of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA), who frequently perpetrate exactions against the local population.
Since 2013, the security situation has improved much owing to the protection mechanisms put in place by Congolese security forces, with MONUSCO peacekeepers’ support. With targeted military operations and several patrols conducted in the affected areas, LRA was progressively pushed back far from the inhabited centers. In spite of the few incidents reported, especially in the western part of the district, Congolese refugees started returning home along the northern axis, in the localities of Duru, Bitima, Nakale, Mugoroko and Nabiapay.
HCR officer in Dungu visited Makpandu camp, South Sudan on 30 May 2014 to assess the nature of the assistance provided to 6800 Congolese still present in the site as well as to enquire about refugees’ claims and factors justifying the intensity of the cross-border movements. Over the coming months, an action plan will be developed in collaboration with local authorities, taking into account the needs of the returnees. In order to ensure sustainable reintegration of refugees and displaced in the district of Haut-Uele, assistance shall, among others, be focused on the legal protection and reinforcement of social and community infrastructures.
Par Piergiorgio Paglialonga