Photo credit; UNCHR
Over 41,000 refugees have fled the Democratic Republic the Congo (DRC) into Uganda since January.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that many of them have witnessed killings, “sexual violence and other traumatic experience during their flight.
Since the end of last month, about 600 Congolese have been crossing into Uganda daily.
Since Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa, the risks are overwhelming the country’s capacity as it also responds to the needs of over 70,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled from the two-year war in Sudan.
Many of the new arrivals come by foot or local transport. Most of the men travel separately from their families to avoid being forcibly recruited by armed groups.
Children are particularly vulnerable with many arriving in “a weakened state amidst a high prevalence of malaria and malnutrition.”
Meanwhile transit is overwhelmed. Nyakabande, one of the major transit centres has reached six times its capacity. There are critical shortages of bathing facilities and latrines, putting people at great risk of deadly diseases.
Most are already suffering poor health.
There is funding crunch which is significantly impacting humanitarian response. UNHCR has scaled back on some standard protection activities, such as legal aid for refugees, in order to prioritize the most critical needs.
Although the Ugandan authorities, UNHCR, and partners are working to strengthen support to the newly arrived refugees, vital services across the country have had to be deprioritized, including health facility closures and the loss of some 250 health workers.
