Thousands flee to Uganda
2008-11-27 23:01
Geneva - About 13 000 people have fled to Uganda from the violence-wracked eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the last two days, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday.
"UNHCR staff at the southwest Ugandan border town of Ishasha said since Tuesday afternoon an estimated 13 000 Congolese refugees had crossed the border from the eastern province's Rutshuru district, including about 10 000 on Thursday," a statement said.
"The stream of new arrivals continues. More and more people are arriving and we need to transport them away from the border to a safe place immediately," said Yumiko Takashima, the leader of a UNHCR emergency team.
The team is working to relocate the refugees to a settlement at Nakivale, some 350km to the east.
About 1 000 refugees began the journey on Thursday morning, with several thousand more expecting to leave on Friday.
The new arrivals told the UNHCR team members that they were fleeing fresh fighting around the town of Rutshuru, some 70km north of Nord-Kivu's provincial capital, Goma.
With the latest influx, Uganda hosts more than 150 000 refugees, including over 50 000 from the DRC.
Others come from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan.