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17,000 Sudanese Refugees Flee Ethnic Violence

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
October 28, 2002
Posted to the web October 28, 2002
Nairobi
About 17,000 Sudanese refugees remained in hiding on Monday, having fled ethnic
violence last week in a refugee settlement in northeastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC).
Rebels of the Congolese Patriotic Union/Popular Rally (UPC-RP) had moved into
the Biringi refugee settlement, about 80 km west of the town of Aru on the
Congo-Ugandan border, prompting most of the population to flee, Kitty McKinsey,
regional public information officer with the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, told IRIN on Monday.
This latest round of fighting erupted on 21 October when the rebels, believed
to be supporters of the Hema people, began withdrawing northwards, UNHCR
reported. Lendu fighters blocked the rebels; thereby sending them into the
Biringi settlement and surrounding areas, causing panic among the refugees who
fled into the bush.
Fighting between the UPC and Lendu intensified on Thursday and Friday, McKinsey
said. "A handful of refugees" who had fled from Ayamba, an area about 11 km
from the centre of Biringi where fighting had taken place, briefly returned to
their homes on Monday to see if their houses remained standing and to gather
some food, she said. Some other refugees, who had not witnessed the fighting,
but had fled when they heard gunfire, were reportedly returning to stay, she
added.
"There have been no reports of any casualties among the refugees or the
civilian population, but UNHCR remains concerned about their safety," she said.
UPC, led by Thomas Lubanga, is a dissident faction of the Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation.

   

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