UN RELIEF CHIEF MEETS WITH VICTIMS OF RECENT VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN

UN RELIEF CHIEF MEETS WITH VICTIMS OF RECENT VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN
New York, May 8 2009 2:00PM
The top United Nations relief official travelled to Southern Sudan today, where he met with some of the thousands of men, women and children who have been displaced by recent violence.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA), up to 1,000 people have been killed and over 100,000 uprooted from their homes since January in seven states in Southern Sudan due to the activities of the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and inter-ethnic clashes.

Continuing his five-day visit to Sudan, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator went to Akobo in Jonglei State, where thousands are taking shelter after fleeing recent violence.

Many of those he met told Mr. Holmes of their plight, some of them recounting how they had lost relatives in the violence.

There are currently 24 humanitarian organizations responding to the increasing needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 7 of the 10 states of Southern Sudan, OCHA said.

Mr. Holmes also met today with Riek Machar, Vice-President of the Government of Southern Sudan, with whom he discussed humanitarian needs in the region, especially those in areas affected by ongoing conflict in Jonglei State.

Tomorrow he will travel to Darfur to meet with local leaders and aid workers, as well as visit Zam Zam camp for IDPs in North Darfur.

The UN relief chief will review the humanitarian situation in the areas, some two months after the Government expelled 13 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and revoked the permits of three local groups after the International Criminal Court (<"http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC?lan=en-GB">ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
________________

UPSURGE IN ATTACKS AS MILITIA GROUP RETURNS TO NORTH KIVU, UN AGENCY REPORTS

UPSURGE IN ATTACKS AS MILITIA GROUP RETURNS TO NORTH KIVU, UN AGENCY REPORTS
New York, Mar 6 2009 1:00PM

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is extremely worried about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the eastern Congolese province of North Kivu, where some 160,000 people have been uprooted from their homes since January and returning militia are attacking local civilians and aid workers.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) returned to the north and central areas of North Kivu, attacking civilians and targeting humanitarian relief convoys, after a joint military operation by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda aimed at ridding them from area ended in mid-February.

UNHCR credited the FDLR – composed mainly of Hutus who arrived in the DRC in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda – with at least 17 attacks, including of killing, looting, kidnapping and raping of civilians, and the ambushing and burning of vehicles, since mid-February.

Over the past two weeks, the FDLR has killed 34 people, kidnapped four and injured 22 others, according to a UNHCR team on the ground. In late February, the armed group ambushed several relief convoys belonging to humanitarian agencies that provide assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs).

This new displacement adds to the strain on an already dramatic humanitarian situation in North Kivu, which has a total of some 850,000 IDPs, many of whom have been displaced multiple times.

Attacks by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has also intensified in the Orientale province of north-eastern DRC since late February, following a relative lull earlier in the month.

Dispersed elements of the LRA continue to attack the civilian population at random, according to a UNHCR team in Dungu, the regional centre of Haut Uélé, where there are frequent reports of rape and pillaging.

UNHCR estimated that the total number of Congolese civilians displaced by LRA raids in this remote part of the DRC has now surpassed 140,000 and the death toll 900, since people of Orientale province were exposed to the brutal and deadly LRA violence last September.

In addition, some 16,000 Congolese refugees crossed into southern Sudan, fleeing the LRA's rampage and are presently sheltering in the area of Ezo, Yambio and Yei.
________________