UN: 600,000 Congolese refugees face funding shortfall

By Godfrey Olukya

ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo (AA) - The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned of a sharp funding shortfall to take care of over 600,000 Congolese refugees currently living in more than 11 regional African countries.

“Of some $236.2 million required for the needs of refugees, IDPs and other people of concern in the DRC, only $49.7 million has been received so far -- a fifth of the amount required,'' said a UNHCR statement.

Apart from the Congolese who have fled to neighboring countries, there are also many people displaced within the Democratic Republic of Congo itself, it explained.

It said it is increasingly concerned by the rising displacement of the DRC’s people, with 3.9 million people internally displaced, including some 428,000 having been uprooted in the last three months alone.

''In all, there are today some 621,711 refugees from the DRC in more than eleven African countries. And funding is urgently needed,” said the statement.

It said that Congolese from the restive North Kivu region have mainly been fleeing to Uganda, and those from South Kivu to Tanzania -- usually transiting through Burundi to escape attacks in their villages.

Currently, Uganda hosts the largest number of DRC refugees, over 236,500 people, and Tanzania has nearly 77,000.

Within the country’s borders, the UN said the Tanganyika province has some 584,000 internally displaced, North and South Kivu have 545,000, and Kasai has 762,000.

The country’s Eastern and Kasai regions have in past months been hit by clashes between militiamen and government security agencies leading to killings and the displacement of civilians.