UNHCR to move 60,000 DR Congo refugees for their safety

UN tank makes its way down the main road near a UN mission in DR Congo (MONUC) base in the town of Kiwanja, about 80km north of Goma, the main city of eastern DR Congo's restive Nord-Kivu region, on Nov 13. Photo: AFP

Around 60,000 people displaced by fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are to be moved out of a camp near the city of Goma because of safety fears, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said yesterday.
"Given the continuing security threat, provincial authorities, UNHCR and its partners have decided to transfer the more than 60,000 people in the two Kibati camps (near Goma)... as soon as possible, in few days," said spokesman Ron Redmond.
Fighting between government forces and followers of renegade Tutsi ex-general Laurent Nkunda has killed at least 100 civilians since September and displaced more than 250,000, according to the United Nations and humanitarian groups.
Nkunda's troops have surrounded Nord-Kivu's capital Goma, eastern DR Congo's main city, for the past two weeks, forcing UN peacekeepers to send reinforcements to protect the city and its estimated 500,000-strong civilian population.
The rebel leader's forces on Thursday also swept to the outskirts of a strategic crossroads town, Kanyabayonga, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Goma.
Peacekeepers with the UN Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC) and FARDC government forces had reinforced their positions at the town.
Around 2,000 people have also fled into Uganda since Tuesday, bringing to 12,000 the number of people who have taken refuge in the neighbouring country since fighting erupted in late August, according to UNHCR.