U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2004 - Congo-Kinshasa

Congo-Kinshasa (also known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) was the source of at least 3.6 million uprooted people at the end of 2003, including more than 3.2 million internally displaced persons and nearly 440,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Some 1 million or more people newly fled their homes during the year, including about 40,000 who sought refuge in neighboring countries.

Significant numbers of Congolese refugees lived in 13 African countries, including some 150,000 in Tanzania, 80,000 in Congo-Brazzaville, 60,000 in Zambia, 41,000 in Burundi, 35,000 in Rwanda, 13,000 in Angola, 12,000 in Uganda, 10,000 in Central African Republic, 9,000 in South Africa, 5,000 in Zimbabwe, 4,000 in Cameroon, 4,000 in Mozambique, 3,000 in Malawi, and 1,000 each in Benin and Namibia. Nearly 11,000 Congolese were asylum seekers in Western countries.

More than 241,000 refugees from neighboring countries were in Congo-Kinshasa at year's end, including 124,000 from Angola, 75,000 from Sudan, 20,000 from Uganda, 20,000 from Burundi, 1,000 from Congo-Brazzaville, 1,000 from Rwanda, and several hundred from Central African Republic. An additional 25,000 Rwandans whose status could not be determined amid Congo-Kinshasa's war lived in Congo-Kinshasa in refugee-like circumstances.

Pre-2003

Events A deadly mixture of civil war, incursions by foreign armies, ethnic violence, anarchy, and economic collapse has devastated Congo-Kinshasa and its estimated 55 million people since 1996. (See World Refugee Survey 2003 Congo-Kinshasa country report, www.refugee.org, for background.)

Politics and Violence in 2003

A chain of significant events during 2003 dramatically changed the political landscape in Congo-Kinshasa, but did little to stem the cycle of violence that has plagued the country for the past seven years.

In early 2003, an 18-month-long peace negotiation conference known as the Inter-Congolese Dialogue produced a comprehensive two-year power-sharing arrangement to be followed by national elections. The formation and inauguration of a Transitional Government – an unprecedented blend of members of the previous government, former rebel groups, unarmed political opposition members, and representatives from civil society – in July marked the end of the country's brutal civil war that began in 1998.

The withdrawal of foreign troops improved stability in some regions of the country, especially the south, but left other regions lawless and violence. In other regions of the country, particularly the war-torn east, security conditions remained poor and, in some areas, worsened during the year. Already exceptionally bloody violence between ethnic Hema and Lendu populations in the Ituri District of Orientale Province in northeast Congo-Kinshasa reached horrific proportions, including large-scale massacres and alleged cannibalism.

In September, the UN Security Council strengthened the mandate of its peacekeeping operation in the country, the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MOUNC), to use force to stop the violence and increase humanitarian assistance in Ituri. Clashes between Mayi-Mayi militias, rebels backed by Rwandan and Ugandan authorities, and other belligerent groups terrorized and forced tens of thousands of civilians from their homes in North and South Kivu Provinces in eastern Congo-Kinshasa during the year.

Recruitment of child soldiers by all sides continued unabated. "Children have been abducted in the streets or taken from classrooms, refugee camps, or camps for the internally displaced," Amnesty International reported in September. UNICEF estimated that as many as 15,000 children were part of various armed groups in eastern Congo-Kinshasa alone. The Congo-Kinshasa government estimated that twice as many children participated in conflicts in the east.

Despite progress toward reunification during the year, many areas of Congo-Kinshasa remained divided between territory controlled by the Transitional Government and territories under the loose control of rebel groups, ethnic militias, and other armed forces at year's end. Another year of bloodshed, human rights violations, and massive population upheaval newly uprooted more than 1 million Congolese and prevented millions of uprooted others from returning home.

Uprooted Congolese

Precise estimates of Congo-Kinshasa's population upheaval were impossible given the country's continued conflict, immense size, poor communication system, and lack of roads. Some sources estimated that as many as 3.4 million Congolese might be internally displaced.

Some 40,000 new Congolese refugees fled to neighboring countries during the year, particularly to Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

According to UN estimates, nearly 85 percent of Congo-Kinshasa's displaced were in the east, including some 1.2 million in North Kivu Province, nearly 800,000 in Orientale Province, more than 400,000 in Katanga Province, more than 320,000 in South Kivu Province, and about 165,000 in Maniema Province. More than 350,000 Congolese remained internally displaced in the west at year's end, including some 168,000 in Equateur Province, 145,000 in Kasai Oriental and Kasai Occidental Provinces, and about 41,000 in Bas-Congo and Bandundu Provinces.

Outbreaks of violence in Ituri District produced the largest new population flight during 2003. Major clashes between ethnic Hema and Lendu militias in and around the Ituri towns of Bunia, Drodro, and Katchele in March, May, and October forced between 500,000 to 1 million civilians from their homes. Particularly intense fighting from April to May uprooted Bunia's entire 200,000 to 350,000 residents. The violence in Ituri District during the year also killed at least 1,000 people and pushed some 21,000 others into Uganda. "In Dordro there were killings on a scale hitherto unknown in the area, hundreds of civilians being murdered in a series of well-coordinated summary executions," the UN reported in May.

Waves of attacks and counterattacks between Rwandan government troops, Rwandan Hutu militias, Mayi-Mayi militias, and other armed factions in North and South Kivu Provinces during the year displaced several thousand residents, including persons already uprooted from fighting earlier in the year. Violence in South Kivu Province in April pushed some 11,000 Congolese refugees into Burundi. Clashes in North Kivu Province in December forced several thousand civilians from their homes, adding to the more than 1 million Congolese already displaced throughout the province. In the Lubero Region of North Kivu Province, "widespread displacement of thousands of people, and inaccessibility to thousands more, has outstripped humanitarian organizations' abilities to meet the health, nutritional and educational needs of vulnerable populations," a joint UN-nongovernmental organization humanitarian assessment team reported in December.

As in previous years, relatively few displaced Congolese lived in camps. The overwhelming majority moved into the homes of family, friends, or strangers, or survived on their own in forests or remote villages. Uprooted families often congregated at small towns that had little food or shelter to share because of pervasive deprivation gripping the general population. Continued violence and poor security prevented international humanitarian agencies from reaching hundreds of thousands of displaced people during the year.

The withdrawal of most Ugandan soldiers from eastern Congo-Kinshasa during the year enabled some displaced persons to return home, but also created new tensions that triggered new population flight at some eastern locations. Returning families typically found their homes looted.

War's Effect on Refugee Protection

Hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring countries continued to seek refuge in Congo-Kinshasa despite its war. Because of the war and overwhelming transportation problems, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies had virtually no contact with about half of them, and managed only sporadic access to tens of thousands of others.

Many Congolese communities hosting refugees struggled to survive in difficult conditions with virtually no assistance. In areas where refugees received modest relief, local residents often expressed animosity toward refugees and aid workers because UNHCR's mandate and limited resources prevented the agency from providing greater assistance to Congolese citizens.

Refugees from Angola

Despite the end of Angola's civil war during 2002, some 124,000 Angolan refugees remained in Congo-Kinshasa at year's end, although some 50,000 or more repatriated primarily from the Bas-Congo and Katanga Provinces during 2003.

Some 54,000 Angolan refugees lived in western Congo-Kinshasa's Bas-Congo Province, about 100 miles (160 km) from Kinshasa, the capital. Tens of thousands who were not recognized by the Congo-Kinshasa government lived in villages in the province. Nearly 15,000 resided in the southern Katanga Province, close to the border with Angola. Three locations – Kisenge, Divuma, and Tshimbumbulu – each housed about 5,000 Angolans. The refugee zone was 700 miles (about 1,100 km) from Kinshasa by air.

The third area hosting Angolan refugees was southwestern Congo-Kinshasa's Bandundu Province, in villages near the town of Kahemba. More than 22,000 Angolan refugees resided in three villages – Kulindji, Bindu, and Tshifwameso – and in an area a 100 miles (160 km) to the west near the town of Tembo, on the remote border. The Bandundu Province refugee zone was located some 350 miles (560 km) by air from the capital. An estimated 32,000 lived in Kinshasa. More than 41,000 returned home with UNHCR assistance during the year.

An estimated 6,000 additional Angolans returned home spontaneously. UNHCR provided repatriating refugees with blankets, plastic sheeting, kitchen utensils, soap and water containers, and a three-month food supply from the World Food Programme (WFP).

Refugees from Sudan

Some 70,000 Sudanese refugees lived in the northeast corner of Congo-Kinshasa, more than 1,100 miles (about 1,800 km) from the capital. Most fled in1990 – 91 because of Sudan's civil war.

About half of the Sudanese refugees were self-sufficient and lived on their own without assistance, primarily in Orientale Province. No local government functioned in the area because of Congo-Kinshasa's war. UNHCR organized regular visits to the refugee population, but did not maintain a permanent presence in the area.

During the year, armed elements frequented the Aba refugee settlement, some 25 miles (40 km) from the Congo-Kinshasa-Sudan border, where members of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) reportedly trafficked arms. Lack of local authorities made it impossible to preserve the settlements' civilian nature. Refugees reportedly murdered three fellow refugees in the area during the year, but were not prosecuted, according to UNHCR.

Refugees from Burundi

An estimated 20,000 Burundian refugees, virtually all ethnic Hutu, were in Congo-Kinshasa at the end of 2003, but their exact number and condition were impossible to ascertain. Most lived in eastern Congo-Kinshasa and sought to remain inconspicuous for their own protection. Many were believed to reside near the town of Uvira in South Kivu Province. Others lived in or around the towns of Mbuji-Mayi in East Kasai Province, Goma in North Kivu Province, Lubumbashi in Katanga Province, and Bukavu in South Kivu Province.

Refugees from Uganda

An estimated 20,000 Ugandan refugees remained in northeast Congo-Kinshasa at year's end. Some had fled their country during the 1980s, while others arrived during the late 1990s because of armed insurgency in western Uganda.

Poor security prevented UNHCR from reaching the majority of the population during the year. UNHCR conducted a mission to the Congolese town of Boga in eastern Orientale Province to assess the conditions of several thousand sheltered in the area. "Ugandan refugees are living in precarious conditions [in Boga] and large numbers are spontaneously repatriating," UNHCR reported. Some 4,000 Ugandan refugees returned home during 2003 with no international assistance.

Refugees from Central African Republic

Several hundred refugees from Central African Republic (CAR) remained in northern Congo-Kinshasa at year's end. Political violence pushed some 25,000 residents of Bangui, the CAR capital, into Congo-Kinshasa's Equateur Province during 2001. Nearly all of the refugees fled to the remote Congolese town of Zongo and other villages along the Ubangui River that forms the border between Congo-Kinshasa and CAR. Several thousand refugees spontaneously repatriated to CAR at the end of 2001 and during 2002.

In June 2003, the remaining 3,000 Central African refugees living in Congo-Kinshasa repatriated with UNHCR assistance from Mole camp, about 25 miles (40 km) from the border. UNHCR closed Mole camp after the repatriation. It is believed that thousands of other Central Africans remained in local Congolese communities and at other locations near the border at year's end.

Asylum Seekers from Rwanda

More than 1 million Rwandan refugees – virtually all of them ethnic Hutu – fled to Congo-Kinshasa in 1994. The overwhelming majority have repatriated since 1996. Some 15,000 repatriated with UNHCR assistance during the year. The returnees received medical exams, food, blankets, used clothing, and transportation assistance.

Tens of thousands of Rwandans remained dispersed in villages, forests, and other inaccessible areas throughout North and South Kivu and Maniema Provinces. Their status remained uncertain. UNHCR and Congolese authorities were unable to conduct official interviews to determine which individuals had legitimate asylum claims, and which ones were disqualified from refugee status because of complicity in Rwanda's 1994 genocide. The U.S. Committee for Refugees, therefore, lists an estimated 25,000 Rwandans in the country as people of undetermined status living in "refugee-like" conditions. UNHCR acknowledged in 1999 that uncertainty over many Rwandans' background made the agency's interaction with them politically "delicate."

UNHCR provided limited assistance to fewer than 1,000 Rwandan refugees – primarily asylum seekers deemed most vulnerable – in the city of Lubumbashi in southern Katanga Province.

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