UN criticizes ‘sudden’ closure of camp for displaced people in DR Congo

AFP FILE PHOTO

KINSHASA, DR Congo—The United Nations on Wednesday said it deplored the sudden dismantling of a camp for internally displaced persons in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, accusing authorities of driving out thousands of vulnerable people.

The head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the country, Rein Paulsen, said in a tweet that Tuesday’s camp closure in the restive North Kivu province saw “4260 people forced to move.”

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“Unacceptable,” he added.

“I regret the manner in which this dismantling was carried out and I am very concerned by the collective punishment imposed on these vulnerable displaced people,” he said in a separate statement.

The residents were “chased from their homes and the site was completely razed by the authorities,” the statement added.

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Paulsen’s office said the development came a week after a firearm was discovered in the camp.

Noting that humanitarian workers in the zone had had little time to prepare, the OCHA said it would seek to make “recommendations” to authorities to “avoid such abrupt (camp) closures” in future.

Berthe Zinga, who coordinates the country’s National Commission of Refugees, told AFP that attempts by humanitarian organisations to keep the camp open had fallen on deaf ears.

“We had pleaded… but unfortunately the camp was closed,” said Zinga.

No provincial authority spokesperson was immediately available to comment on the move.

In December 2014, authorities already closed nearby camp Kiwanja, holding some 2,300 people, with barely any warning after discovering six firearms. They also announced plans to close other camps for the displaced in the province for security reasons.

The UN in turn urged the government to respect “international humanitarian law” in the war-ravaged country which last September counted some 1.6 million displaced persons, including some 600,000 in North Kivu province.

Elections are due later this year and political tensions are running high. The UN on Monday said 7.5 million people—nine percent of the population—were in need of humanitarian aid including food.