06 November 2008 - 11H00
Hunger besets civilians in Congo refugee camps
In the North Kivu refugee camp of Mugunga II, civilians complain of insufficient food and medicine. Aid agencies say they are scrambling to provide food and care to the 200,000 people crammed into camps around Goma, near the Rwandan border.
The Mugunga II refugee camp is like so many others in the eastern part of the DR Congo. In this remote and unstable region, food and medicine are running out.
Battles between General Laurent Nkunda's rebels and the Congolese Army have driven hundreds of thousands refugees onto the roads. Many newcomers in the camp were thrown from their homes by the rebel offensive. They are too frightened to return, while some have nothing to return to.
The anger here is palpable. “The kids are suffering. Look at the them,” says one refugee. “The fever. The diseases. All of these happen to the kids because of the war and the lack of food.”
But worse may be to come. The UN’s World Food Programme had to reduce the refugees’ daily food rations by half in the wake of the global food crisis.
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Comments
orphaned children in congo
Just seen disturbing images of children in Don Bosco orphanage, What hope have they it is awfull. maybe making it easyer to adopt these children whom have no family or quality of life would ease the situation a bit. CHRIS ADEPOJU