More than 40,000 DRC refugees flee to Uganda as aid cuts hit: UN

TDT | Manama
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More than 40,000 Congolese refugees have fled to Uganda since violence flared in eastern DR Congo in January, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning the surge could overwhelm a system battered by US aid cuts.

Uganda shares a border with the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been roiled by conflict after the Rwandan-backed M23 group captured swathes of territory, including two regional hubs.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the clashes, which the UN estimates have killed roughly 900 people, although Kinshasa gives a far higher figure.

"Since January, over 41,000 Congolese have sought safety in Uganda, bringing the total number of Congolese in Uganda to nearly 600,000," UNHCR's Uganda representative Matthew Crentsil said in a statement.

Some 70,000 Sudanese refugees have also fled their nation's brutal two-year civil war, he said, with the number of refugees hosted by Uganda at 1.8 million.

With at least 600 people arriving each day in the last two weeks, Crentsil said, an already over-burdened system is now being further strained by the US aid cuts.

"Transit and reception centres at the border are overflowing," he said, describing how, ahead of the rainy season, refugees were being housed in "all available spaces, including kitchens and registration areas".

"Critical shortages of water, latrines and bathing facilities... are putting people at dire risk of deadly diseases," Crentsil said.

He said that transit centres such as Nyakabande, designed to host 7,000 people, are "now at six times its initial capacity".

Donald Trump's administration has largely gutted USAID, the main US humanitarian assistance organisation.

It previously had a yearly budget of $42.8 billion, which was 42 percent of all aid money disbursed around the world.

Across Uganda, vital refugee services have been deprioritised, which included laying off roughly 250 health workers.

"The funding crunch is significantly impacting the response," with UNHCR forced to scale back protection activities in order "to prioritise the most critical needs," Crentsil said.

Last month, the UNHCR said more than 100,000 people had fled the violence in the DRC to neighbouring nations.

Burundi shut down a transit centre sheltering 45,000 last week, with a local official calling the situation at the Rugombo Stadium "untenable".