U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2003 - Congo-Kinshasa

Congo-Kinshasa (also known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) was the source of more than 2.4 million uprooted people at the end of 2002, including 2 million or more internally displaced persons and nearly 410,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Some 200,000 to 400,000 people newly fled their homes during the year.

Significant numbers of Congolese refugees lived in 13 African countries, including some 140,000 in Tanzania, 80,000 in Congo-Brazzaville, 50,000 in Zambia, 40,000 in Burundi, 30,000 in Rwanda, 12,000 in Angola, 11,000 in Central African Republic, 10,000 in Uganda, 8,000 in South Africa, 5,000 in Zimbabwe, 4,000 in Mozambique, 3,000 in Malawi, and 1,000 in Benin. Nearly 15,000 Congolese were asylum seekers in Western industrialized countries.

More than 270,000 refugees from neighboring countries were in Congo-Kinshasa at year's end, including 150,000 from Angola, 70,000 from Sudan, 20,000 from Uganda, 20,000 from Burundi, 10,000 from Central African Republic, 3,000 from Congo-Brazzaville, and 1,000 from Rwanda.

An additional 25,000 Rwandans lived in Congo-Kinshasa in refugee-like circumstances, their status undetermined because their individual asylum claims could not be assessed amid Congo-Kinshasa's war.

Pre-2002 Events

A deadly mixture of civil war, incursions by foreign armies, ethnic violence, political anarchy, and economic collapse has devastated Congo-Kinshasa and its estimated 53 million people since 1996.

Congo-Kinshasa's strategic location in central Africa, and its immense natural deposits of gold, diamonds, cobalt, coltan, and other valuable minerals have drawn armies from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia into Congo-Kinshasa to compete for dominance in a conflict that some observers have called "a continent-wide free-for-all." Local rebel and militia groups have also taken up arms in a complex web of shifting alliances.

Up to 3 million Congolese have died since 1998 of causes directly or indirectly linked to the conflict, according to a study by the International Rescue Committee. Combatants on all sides have perpetrated atrocities, including massacres of civilians, widespread destruction and looting, conscription of child soldiers, and use of rape as a weapon of war.

A UN investigation in 2001 accused many participants – particularly the Rwandan, Ugandan, and Zimbabwean governments – of plundering Congo-Kinshasa's natural resources.

The UN Security Council called on the governments of Rwanda and Uganda to remove their armies from Congo-Kinshasa during 2000, but they ignored the directive. Although some belligerents adhered to a partial cease-fire during 2001, brutal violence continued unabated behind the front lines in the eastern third of the country.

UN military observers stationed in Congo-Kinshasa monitored cease-fire violations and human rights incidents, but did not intervene to stop the violence or protect civilians.

Violence and Politics in 2002

The war in Congo-Kinshasa took several bizarre twists, as violence continued and even intensified in some regions despite progress in peace negotiations and the withdrawal of tens of thousands of foreign troops from Congolese soil.

The governments of Congo-Kinshasa and Rwanda signed agreements during the year that prompted Rwanda to remove its forces, at least officially. Numerous reports suggested that thousands of Rwandan government soldiers remained in Congo unofficially.

Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia also withdrew most or all of their soldiers in a bid for peace. The Congolese government agreed in principle to a power-sharing arrangement with a rebel group known as the Congolese Liberation Movement operating in the north.

A long-delayed conference known as the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, which included Congo-Kinshasa's government leaders, opposition parties, and rebel groups, tentatively agreed to a comprehensive two-year power-sharing arrangement to be followed by national elections. By year's end, however, political leaders had not yet implemented the accord.

In what one UN humanitarian report characterized as an "emerging contradiction," the exit of foreign troops during the year had the unintended consequence of inflaming violence in eastern Congo-Kinshasa as local rebel and militia groups rushed to fill the military vacuum.

One of the main rebel groups, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), closely allied with the Rwandan government's military, continued to subdivide because of internal disagreements.

In several instances, military forces that previously had been allied with each other became adversaries and clashed.

Particularly bloody violence between ethnic Hema and ethnic Lendu populations persisted in Ituri Province in northeast Congo-Kinshasa, fueled by readily available weaponry and manipulation by Ugandan soldiers on the scene.

RCD rebels and several other armed groups continued to battle, rape, and pillage in South Kivu and North Kivu Provinces in eastern Congo-Kinshasa.

Violence also erupted among anti-government forces in the key city of Kisangani in north central Congo-Kinshasa, triggering executions of some 160 people by rebels controlling the city.

Recruitment of child soldiers by all sides worsened during the year despite efforts to disarm and demobilize young combatants, a UN report concluded.

Armed groups perpetrating some of the worst violence often appeared to be motivated by banditry rather than political or strategic goals, an analysis by Refugees International concluded.

"The fragile peace process ... [is] in serious danger of being reversed," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported in October. "The number and scale of gross human rights violations is growing rapidly, and the situation demands greater protection of civilians. ... "

At year's end, the main RCD rebel faction controlled most main towns in the eastern edge of the country, rebels known as the Congolese Liberation Movement controlled territory in the north, local militias called Mai-Mai dominated eastern rural zones, and a patchwork of armed groups continued to hold isolated pockets in the east and north.

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 2.5 million Congolese might be internally displaced.

According to UN estimates, nearly 90 percent of Congo-Kinshasa's displaced population were in the east, including some 750,000 in North Kivu Province, more than 400,000 in South Kivu Province, some 400,000 in Katanga Province, up to 250,000 in Orientale Province, and about 150,000 in Maniema Province.

The largest new population flight during 2002 reportedly occurred in northeast Congo-Kinshasa, near the towns of Beni and Bunia, where armed clashes involving rebel groups and local ethnic-based militias chased more than 100,000 people from their homes.

Fighting between Rwandan government troops and ethnic Tutsi Congolese in South Kivu Province forced some 50,000 people to flee. Raids in other parts of South Kivu during the year uprooted tens of thousands of additional residents, leaving more than 100 villages vacant and creating a "creeping disaster," according to a UN humanitarian assessment.

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

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. Some displaced people trapped in forests were loath to farm or seek humanitarian aid out of embarrassment about their utter lack of clothing, several reports noted.

The withdrawal of most Rwandan soldiers from eastern Congo-Kinshasa late in 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.

Humanitarian Conditions

With up to 3 million people dead from war-related causes since 1998, humanitarian conditions in Congo-Kinshasa were catastrophic.

"Living conditions for much of the local population are deplorable," a UN report stated late in the year. "Child malnutrition is commonplace."

Nearly one-third of children suffered malnutrition at some sites in eastern Congo-Kinshasa, a health survey by World Vision revealed early in the year. An estimated 17 million Congolese "are in need of urgent food aid," a UN report noted in October, but food relief reached only about 1 million people.

"Malnutrition rates have been soaring almost everywhere in the country, in both the internally displaced and local populations," the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in November. Infant mortality rates have jumped 40 percent during the past two years, UNICEF estimated.

International health agencies operating in Congo-Kinshasa issued alerts during 2002 for outbreaks of cholera, measles, hemorrhagic fever, and a virulent deadly flu. Infections of HIV/AIDs have risen as the war destroyed health services and pushed women into displacement and sexual bartering to survive.

More than 650,000 Congolese children have lost parents to AIDS, reported Save the Children Federation.

International donor countries provided less than half of the $202 million requested by UN humanitarian agencies for Congo-Kinshasa during the year.

The funding shortfall delayed a measles vaccination campaign and curtailed programs to provide water, sanitation, family shelters, emergency education, and food-for-work to the Congolese population.

"This war is a human disaster of unimaginable proportions," an analysis by Refugees International concluded. "The efforts of the international community appear feeble and ineffective, dwarfed by the scale of the suffering they are intended to mitigate. ...

The humanitarian community is left to make the best of an awful situation, bringing relief where temporary openings appear."

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 the refugees, and managed only sporadic access to tens of thousands of others.

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

"It is hardly surprising that stable refugee camp populations surviving on barely adequately levels of support are correctly perceived to enjoy better living conditions than neighboring nationals," UNHCR acknowledged.

Refugees from Angola

Despite the end of Angola's civil war during 2002, about 150,000 Angolan refugees remained in Congo-Kinshasa at year's end, although about 30,000 repatriated primarily from the Bas-Congo and Katanga Provinces.

Some 50,000 to 80,000 Angolan refugees lived in western Congo-Kinshasa's Bas-Congo Province, about 100 miles (160 km) from Kinshasa, the capital.

Some 20,000 refugees occupied the province's two camps, Kilueka and Nkondo-Mpeke. About 10,000 resided in special "integration villages" created by the government and aid agencies. Tens of thousands of others lived in villages in the province.

Up to 50,000 refugees resided in southern Congo-Kinshasa's Katanga Province, close to the country's border with Angola.

Three locations – Kisenge, Divuma, and Tshimbumbulu – each housed about 10,000 to 15,000 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.

About half of the province's 20,000 refugees resided in three villages – Kulindji, Bindu, and Tshifwameso – while nearly 10,000 reportedly lived 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.

Some 30,000 Angolan refugees lived in Kinshasa. UNHCR provided about 3,000 of them with limited humanitarian assistance, including subsistence allowances, health care, and support for education and housing.

Approximately 60 percent of Congo-Kinshasa's Angolan refugee population received full or partial humanitarian assistance. Local authorities gave refugees in Kilueka 2,200 acres (900 hectares) for farming.

UNHCR provided seeds and other agricultural support. Approximately 100,000 refugees received World Food Program food distributions. Pockets of malnutrition remained, however.

UNHCR rehabilitated several bridges to improve its access to the refugee population in Bas-Congo Province. Programs to address sexual violence helped reduce rape incidents among refugees during the year, according to UNHCR.

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 to Congo-Kinshasa during 1990–91 because of Sudan's civil war.

About half of the Sudanese refugees were self-sufficient and lived on their own without humanitarian assistance. Some 25,000 reportedly resided in or near the town of Aba, more than 15,000 lived near Biringi, and an estimated 10,000 lived at Dungu. Nearly 20,000 others lived at Doruma or other scattered locations.

No local government functioned in the area because of Congo-Kinshasa's war. UNHCR repaired about 85 miles (140 km) of roads and 3 bridges to improve its access to the refugee population.

The refugee agency also constructed 3 additional health clinics and rehabilitated 14 wells to improve the supply of drinking water for refugees and the local population. Nearly 4,000 Sudanese refugee students attended primary school.

Clashes between Congolese rebel groups spilled into several camps housing Sudanese refugees and displaced some 15,000 of them in October. Most refugees eventually returned to their camps, but hundreds of others remained in nearby forests at year's end because of security concerns.

"The overall security situation in eastern Congo-Kinshasa makes it nearly impossible for us to have regular access to refugees," UNHCR acknowledged in October.

Refugees from Burundi

An estimated 20,000 Burundian refugees, virtually all ethnic Hutu, were in Congo-Kinshasa at the end of 2002, 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 Ugandan refugees had fled their country during the 1980s, while others arrived in Congo-Kinshasa during the late 1990s because of armed insurgency in western Uganda.

Poor security prevented UNHCR from reaching 85 percent of the Ugandan refugee population during the year, including more than 10,000 who struggled to survive in and around the town of Beni in Orientale Province. Improved security near the Congolese town of Boga in eastern Orientale Province enabled UNHCR to provide limited assistance to some 4,000 Ugandan refugees.

Refugees from Central African Republic

At least 10,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Central African Republic (CAR) lived 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. Many thousands more returned home during early 2002.

In February, about 6,000 refugees who remained in Congo-Kinshasa transferred to a newly constructed camp, Mole, about 25 miles (40 km) from the border. UNHCR also transferred some 600 former CAR soldiers to a separate settlement near the town of Bokilio, about 75 miles (125 km) from Zongo. Thousands of other refugees remained in local Congolese communities.

UNHCR constructed a health center, water system, about 2,000 shelters, some 30 classrooms, and a food distribution center to accommodate the refugees at Mole camp.

UNHCR also provided seeds and tools to enable 1,200 refugee families to cultivate nearly 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of farmland donated by local authorities.

A census conducted in July indicated that fewer than 4,000 refugees remained at Mole camp. It is believed that thousands of others continued to live at other locations near the border.

Renewed violence in CAR during October-November pushed several hundred more Bangui residents into Congo-Kinshasa, including many who had repatriated earlier in the year. UNHCR transferred the new arrivals to Mole camp.

"Deteriorated security, poor road conditions, and lack of food," hampered refugee assistance programs at Mole camp during the last months of the year, UNHCR reported.

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. Unpredictable security and a massive volcano eruption in eastern Congo-Kinshasa during 2002 disrupted UNHCR's repatriation plans.

Some 4,000 Rwandan refugees repatriated with UNHCR assistance during the year. The returnees received medical exams, food, blankets, used clothing, and transportation help. Aid workers in Congo-Kinshasa reunited 185 unaccompanied refugee children with their families in Rwanda.

UNHCR improved its repatriation facilities in anticipation that considerably more Rwandan refugees would voluntarily depart Congo-Kinshasa during 2002.

The agency rehabilitated some ten assembly shelters, constructed a new transit center, and repaired roads. Poor security in the Shabunbda region of South Kivu Province prevented UNHCR from opening an additional reception center to assist Rwandan refugees willing to repatriate.

Tens of thousands of Rwandans remained dispersed in villages, forests, and other inaccessible areas throughout North and South Kivu as well as Maniema Province. 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. UNHCR transferred the Rwandan asylum seekers to newly identified facilities outside of Lubumbashi in mid-2002.

Congolese rebel groups reportedly abducted many Rwandan asylum seekers in North and South Kivu Provinces during the year.

According to UNHCR, Rwandan government troops deployed in eastern Congo-Kinshasa conducted so-called "parallel" repatriations that allegedly forced thousands of Rwandan asylum seekers to repatriate involuntarily.

The Rwandan military's actions also pushed Rwandan asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, deeper into isolated locations in Congo-Kinshasa.

"The non-accessibility of the refugees makes it difficult for the office to discharge its international protection responsibility," UNHCR stated in September.