DRC: Renewed violence in Ituri

MSF intervenes south of Bunia to help thousands of displaced people

09 October 2008

Thousands of people from the Gety region, 60 km south of Bunia, have been forced to leave their towns and villages following renewed fighting between the Armed Forces of the D R Congo (FARDC) and militias from Tchey, one of the nearby townships. Shelling from heavy weapons followed by fighting between the various armed factions started in Bukiringi on 27 September, the zone is still inaccessible. In Kotoni, 20 km from Bunia, the population of 4,500 more than doubled with the sudden arrival of refugees.

“We left all our belongings behind,” a Bukiringi resident told Dr Sidy from MSF, who left Bunia to meet the refugees, “everything was looted after we left”, she added. The same day, soldiers and militiamen were systematically looting the town of Gety, according to other refugees.

Given the impoverished state of the refugees, with some even being stripped of their meagre possessions by armed men as they fled, a swift intervention by humanitarian organisations is essential to prevent possible incidents with residents in towns and villages where these refugees are seeking protection.

The displaced people being unable to cover the cost at the local medical facilities, MSF set up a mobile clinic on 6 October, also providing support for a clinic in Dele, in the outskirts of Bunia, where hundreds of refugees have started arriving. MSF is also organising referrals to the Bon Marché hospital, in Bunia, in particular as regards obstetrical complications.

As of today this renewed spate of violence in the Ituri region has forced at least 10,000 people to flee.