dpa
Geneva
Uganda’s refugee camps are severely overcrowded due to a surge in people fleeing violence in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
Uganda urgently needs support to care for these people, said Matthew Crentsil, UNHCR’s representative in the country. He addressed reporters in Geneva via video link.
Uganda is already the largest refugee-hosting nation in Africa, sheltering some 1.8 million people displaced by conflicts across the region, according to UNHCR data.
Since the start of this year alone, more than 41,000 people have crossed into Uganda from Congo. Crentsil noted that 80% of them are women and children, many arriving in severely weakened condition.
Refugees report harrowing accounts of violence in the Goma region of eastern Congo, roughly 70 kilometres from the Ugandan border. There, the M23 militia continues to battle the Congolese army, displacing hundreds of thousands. With resources stretched thin, Uganda has already had to scale back childcare and education services in the camps due to funding shortages. Authorities are now prioritizing the prevention of disease outbreaks, Crentsil said.
