14/1/2005
Congolese Women And Children Flee Across Lake

Fighting has broken out again in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to reports from the UN this week. Thousands of Congolese refugees fleeing fighting between two major ethnic groups in the eastern Ituri region have poured into neighbouring Uganda, UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency said. An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people, mostly women and children in poor health, have made their way across Lake Albert by boat to the village of Nkondo, some 285 kilometres from the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

UNHCR has sent blankets, soap and other relief items to Nkondo; other UN agencies are providing food and sanitation. The refugees have said there is fighting between Hema and Lendu militias. The UN Organisation Mission in the DRC (MONUC) has also reported clashes between a faction of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC-L) and the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI). The UPC is a Hema militia and the FNI a Lendu militia.