DR Congo: Precarious conditions for refugees returning home
Fri, 02/19/2010 - 18:42This week, the governments of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) signed a Tripartite Agreement, setting the stage to help more than 50,000 Congolese refugees return home after living in camps in Rwanda.
Chad: Changes in Climate Limit Resources For Refugees
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 17:06Stories from DR Congo at the Inaugural Westport Circle
Tue, 09/15/2009 - 18:27Organized by two young, energetic and passionate friends of RI, Peter Finlay and Sefra Levin, the event brought together more than 65 people from the Westport, CT and New York City areas to spend an evening learning more about RI and how they can support our work.
DR Congo: Kimia II's Impact on Civilians
Thu, 08/20/2009 - 13:55In February, people in Mwenga told us that they were very scared about these joint operations. There is a large presence of FDLR in Mwenga territory and people said that any operations against the rebel group would certainly jeopardize their own security. People were also scared of the Rwandan army returning to the area given its history of past abuses against the local population there. They told us, “if we flee, we don’t know where we’d go, because in the forest is the FDLR who have threatened to attack us, and in town will be the Rwandan military who have targeted us in the past.”
Chad: Protect Children from Rebel Recruitment
Wed, 06/24/2009 - 01:00Oure Cassoni lies very close to the border with Sudan, a fact that has long worried many of the organizations that work there, since it has led to problems within the camp related to the presence of armed groups – in particular, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
Chad: "We Would Like Some English Dictionaries"
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 01:00Two years ago I tried to visit Darfur to conduct an assessment mission with Refugees International, but was blocked from traveling there by the government of Sudan. Now, on the other side of the border in eastern Chad, I’m finally getting a chance to speak with people from Darfur, forced to flee their homes because of the conflict in the western part of Sudan.
DR Congo: Turning a Blind Eye
Tue, 05/05/2009 - 17:11It’s happened again. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is off of the international radar screen, despite the fact that violence and displacement continue.
DR Congo: Strategies for New Displacement
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 16:50
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over this past weekend.
His visit comes at a time when the security situation on the ground is quickly changing.
In January, CNDP rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, responsible for the
violent upsurge in fighting in the fall that displaced 250,000 people,
was arrested in Rwanda. Following his arrest, the Rwandan national
army entered North Kivu province to conduct joint operations with the
Congolese national army against the FDLR rebel group. The Rwandans,
claiming that the operations had been a success, pulled out their
troops days before Ban arrived in the DRC.
DR Congo: The Road from Goma to Rutshuru
Mon, 02/02/2009 - 02:00The last time I visited North Kivu was in April 2008. Things were relatively calm then following the signing of the Goma agreement earlier that year. Although armed groups were continuing to violate the ceasefire, humanitarian access was fairly good, particularly in Rutshuru, where several official displacement camps had been established, as well as a swelling number of spontaneous displacement sites along the road.
Nine months later, everything has changed.
This past fall, rebels led by dissident general Laurent Nkunda took Rutshuru during a violent escalation in fighting. In its wake, the fighting left an estimated 250,000 people newly displaced, pushing the number of displaced people in North Kivu to over one million.





