UN Tightens Security in DR Congo Refugee Camps

"Men often spend the day away from the [IDP] sites for fear of being abducted, but most abductions occur during the night," states a 5 February update issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Rutshuru Territory, which has about 129,000 IDPs, is among the most affected.

In southern Walikale Territory, Rwandan Hutu Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR) militia on 28 January attacked civilians in the village of Isuka and abducted seven people, who have yet to be released, to transport looted goods, added OCHA.

Marie-Claire Bangwene, Masisi Territory administrator, said police had been deployed to two IDP camps there to ensure security and prevent militia attacks.

Armed attackers raided Muhanga IDP camp, in Masisi on 15 January, looting aid from an NGO. On 22 January, another attack on Nyange camp, also in Masisi, left three people dead. The government has started an inquiry into the attacks, Bangwene told IRIN.

"After the Nyange [attack], the camps were secured by FARDC [DRC army] soldiers and the FDLR withdrew toward the villages of Binga [about 60km away], and Mutongo [90km by road]…" the president of Masisi civil society, Thomas d’Aquin Muipi Luanda, told IRIN, noting that the often unpaid FARDC sometimes lacked the motivation to promptly respond to rebel attacks. 

Source: Allafrica