1 000s to benefit from WFP

2009-11-26 11:05

Kinshasa - The UN World Food Programme announced Wednesday that from mid-December it will feed thousands of people displaced by violence in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

About half of those affected have crossed the Oubangui river to escape the violence into the Republic of Congo, but the refugees are all in regions that are mostly hard to access except by boat.

"In all, 23 lorries carrying 455 tonnes of food from the Central African Republic have already arrived at Betou in the north of the DR Congo, along with 8 000 litres of fuel to help humanitarian distribution on the spot," a WFP statement said.

The UN agency "is evaluating exact needs in food in the areas around Dongo and foresees starting the distribution of food in the second week of December with the stocks already present in the country."

Dongo is a village in Orientale province where violence broke out at the end of October between two rival tribes, the Lobala (or Enyele) and the Bamboma (or Boba), who respectively come from the villages of Enyele and Monzaya.

At least 100 people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled, according to the United Nations mission in DR Congo (Monuc).

The rival communities dispute the control of rich fishing waters, and the provincial interior minister, Guy Inenge, warned of a "rebellion" by about 400 members of a former rebel movement.

About 53 000 people have fled the violence: 37 000 to the north of the Congo Republic, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 16 000 others who have stayed in the DR Congo, according to Monuc.

- SAPA