Andrew Philip, Amnesty International researcher, blogging from the field
Today we spent the day at Nakivale camp, 300km away inside Uganda from the Congolese border, speaking to more refugees, including a 14-year-old boy who was on his own in the camp. Crying his eyes out, he told us how he has found his father, mother and sister shot dead inside a hospital in Eastern DRC. A man described to us the killing at point-blank range of his neighbour and friend. There are a lot of very traumatised people at the camp and at Ishasha.
Continue reading ‘Fear and trauma at Nakivale refugee camp’
Andrew Philip, Amnesty International researcher, blogging from the field.
Back in Mbarara, after a strange sort of day.
We went back to Ishasha this morning. Yesterday many more people had arrived and the camp and the town were jam-packed with people.
Humanitarian agencies there are now overwhelmed, doing their best, trying to organize the evacuation of refugees to other places and refugee camps further inside Uganda where they can receive them.
Continue reading ‘CNDP take the DRC part of Ishasha today’
Andrew Philip, Amnesty International researcher, blogging from the field.
Today we were at Ishasha, on the bridge over the river that divides the DRC and Uganda, and we saw hundreds of people crossing, probably over 5000. Today’s flux was unusual, according to an UNHCR official who told us they had never seen so many arrivals in one day since the end of October.
Fighting between the Mayi Mayi and the CNDP armed groups happened today in Nyamilima and Kinyandoni. People flee to get out of the DRC as soon as they can. Some are lucky and get accommodated in large tents, but today, thousands of people will sleep outside, many of them with no food and very little water remaining after the twenty kilometres they had to walk to make it to the border.
Continue reading ‘Today we were at Ishasha…’
Dani Valls, Amnesty International campaigner, blogging about international action on DRC
DRC demo in London ©Amnesty International
I came back from the demonstration in front of Mr. Brown’s office, at 10 Downing Street in London, in a good mood and with a utopian sense of hope.
There was a mix of powerful energy, clear demands, clocks, banners and a crowd of around 150 people backing up the demands that heads of the different organizations present and a Congolese youth activist made to the Prime Minister.
Continue reading ‘“Mr. Brown, act now!”’
Andrew Philip, Amnesty International researcher, blogging from the field.
We’re now in Mbarara, back from this morning’s visit to Nakivale refugee camp, in southwestern Uganda, 360km from the border with DRC. With over 35,000 people, it is one of the largest camps in the country.
Since the beginning of August, 13,000 refugees have arrived from the DRC – and 5,079 since the beginning of November only. More are coming every day. Yesterday there were 344 new arrivals, and when we were leaving the camp, we saw two more buses, loaded with people, coming in. Half of the refugees are children.
Continue reading ‘Democratic Republic of Congo – aid is still not adequate’
