Red Cross in Uganda says looking for parents of 271 Congolese children

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Red Cross in Uganda on Sunday said it is still looking for the parents of 271 children aged between 3 and 15 who fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, the Red Cross team leader in western Uganda, Abel Nuwamanya, said: “We have received 371 children who crossed to Uganda without their parents since March 28 when Congolese refugees started flocking into Uganda while fleeing fighting in their villages not far from the border with Uganda.”

He said that they have so far managed to locate the parents of 100 children, adding they have now 271 children at Nyakabanda refugees’ transit camp near the Bunagana border with DR Congo.

He said when the rebels attack villages in DR Congo, children and women are the ones who flee first and therefore it is not surprising that children are at the camp without their parents.

Nuwamanya said they are doing their best to look for the parents of the children, adding some of the parents could be among the hundreds of Congolese refugees who were relocated to Nakivale refugee camp 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border with DR Congo.

According to the Red Cross in Uganda, at least 17,000 refugees have so far been received officially in Uganda by UNHCR Red Cross and Uganda’s Prime Minister’s Directorate for Refugees since March 28 when they started fleeing from fighting in their country.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​