UN chief says 100,000 refugees trapped in Congo

[David]

AP


UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. secretary-general is calling for an immediate cease-fire to urgently help at least 100,000 refugees cut off by fighting in rebel-held areas north of Goma in eastern Congo.

Ban Ki-moon told reporters Tuesday that the refugees have almost no help and the situation is growing increasingly desperate.

He said 250,000 people have been displaced by fighting in eastern Congo and "for 100,000 ... (the) lifeline has been cut off."

Ban said he was mobilizing all U.N. humanitarian agencies to help.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story is below.

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Aid workers in eastern Congo said Tuesday they are concerned that thousands of refugees may be trapped behind rebel lines and in urgent need of food.

Representatives of humanitarian agencies said they were trying to gain access to the towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja, about 50 miles north of Goma, the provincial capital. Both are in rebel-held territory.

They said they did not know how many people there need help. But during stable times, the two towns had a combined population of more than 150,000.

Fighting in that area was fierce and apparently brutal as rebel forces led by Laurent Nkunda battled toward Goma. Nkunda launched an offensive Aug. 28, stopping just outside Goma and declaring a cease-fire two weeks ago.

A U.N. mission sent to Kiwanja to investigate reports of massacres said Tuesday it had received "credible reports that civilians were targeted, that a large number of them were murdered even though no precise number is yet available," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York.

"The team visited 11 burial sites that witnesses said contained 26 bodies of combatants and civilians. Some sources gave a higher number for civilian deaths but this is unconfirmed," she said.

And New York-based Human Rights Watch said at least 50 civilians were killed there — the majority by rebels. The group said the actual death toll is likely higher.

Many of the killings were thought to be reprisals against those deemed to have collaborated with the government.

A rebel spokesman said aid workers who wanted to render aid to civilians trapped in the area on rebel-held territory would be safe.

"If there are NGOs who want to come to Rutshuru, they are welcome to come," rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said.

Closer to Goma, the situation is dire. Aid groups say 250,000 people have been displaced in eastern Congo since the fighting began. A new wave of 8,000 people from Rutshuru and Kiwanja has washed into a camp in Goma over the last three days.

"I haven't eaten properly in three weeks," said Teoneste Dies, 22. He fled his home three weeks ago with his wife and three children, surviving on the few potatoes they could scrounge.

On Tuesday, he waited with thousands of others for food aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross. The organization was distributing 45 metric tons of food — enough to feed each family for 10 days.

In Kibati, six miles from Goma, about 70,000 people are living in makeshift camps. A long line snaked through town Tuesday morning as villagers picked up oil, maize flour, salt and beans.

Men were attempting to till a nearby field littered with volcanic rocks from an eruption in 2006.

"Normally they never try to plant there," said Abdallah Togola, an aid worker. "It's a big indication of how urgent the situation is."

The fighting in eastern Congo is fueled by ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of at least 500,000 Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. Nkunda says he is fighting to protect minority Tutsis from Rwandan Hutu militants who participated in the genocide before escaping to Congo.

Desire Burunga, 48, fled to Kibati with his four wives and twelve children in September, when fighting threatened his town of Kibumba.

"We used to live together and have no problem," said Burunga, a former county clerk. "After the affair in Rwanda, everyone has problems. Everyone is now aggressive after Rwanda."

Relief officials say they have recorded at least 90 cholera cases around Goma since Friday. Seven more were admitted to a clinic in Kibati on Monday night.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it fears a cholera epidemic could break out if the fighting continues and people continue to live in makeshift camps without proper sanitation. At least 1,000 cases of cholera have been detected since the start of October.

"As yet we have seen no explosion in cholera cases, but the risks are very high," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told reporters in Geneva.

The agency has flown 60 tons (66 U.S. tons) of medical supplies to neighboring Uganda; they will be taken by road to eastern Congo, he said.

Weekend clashes between rebels and soldiers ignited concern that patients could scatter and spread the disease.

Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. Tuesday to increase the number of peacekeepers in eastern Congo to protect civilians. The organization said the Security Council should bolster the 17,000-strong U.N. force in Congo by 3,000 soldiers and police.

The U.N. force did little to prevent the rebels' advance, enraging the population.

In Frankfurt, Germany, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he and other African leaders in the region remained worried about the fighting.

"Peace in our country cannot last for long unless our neighbors are at peace," he said. "The fighting has to stop."

Kagame said no Rwandan troops had been dispatched to Congo.