10/22/2004

While the provision of humanitarian assistance has improved in several areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to greater access and security, thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), living in settlements in Kinshasa and Kalemie, North Katanga province, have been completely abandoned by the United Nations humanitarian community.

In the DRC this year more than 700,000 internally displaced have spontaneously returned to their areas of origin, while 2.4 million remain displaced. Refugees International recognizes that only a small portion of displaced persons is living in formal settlements, gradually populated since the start of the war in 1998, but the inability or unwillingness to provide an adequate humanitarian response to such small groups cast serious doubt on the UN’s overall capacity to deal with the return and reintegration of larger numbers of displaced persons.

Some 1,200 people, who fled fighting in several provinces of the country in the late nineties and who have been living in Nganda Musolo displaced camp since 2000, are battling to survive. Located only 60 kilometers from Kinshasa, the camp was set up by the local Commissioner and housing, food, and water and sanitation assistance was provided at that time. Since 2002, however, assistance has been almost completely discontinued and no alternative has been provided to those who are tired of living in misery and being exposed to abuses. A displaced person told RI, “We are not receiving food from WFP and rain is pouring inside our houses because the plastic sheeting is shredded. Our children do not go to school since we cannot afford to pay the fees.”

Lack of protection is also a serious problem. Young girls and their mothers have been sexually exploited either by the Congolese police placed close to the camp or by the coast guard officers from a nearby military academy. According to the group of women RI interviewed, HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) are among the diseases that dozens of young girls are contracting. “Against our will we have been forced to become sex slaves in order to buy food,” said Marian, a 20-years-old team leader. “I suffered morally when I knew I was pregnant and had STI. I cried and still cry because I have a baby that won’t know his father…There is no clinic here, not even a drug or a nurse. I had a dream to finish my high school, go to university, and become a lawyer, but as you can see this is not a place to dream. The only dream is that of surviving.”

In Kalemie, another group of 15,000 is facing a similar situation. After a survey in December 2003 and a subsequent food distribution the following February, no additional assistance has been provided. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) justified the cessation of food assistance by pointing to the mishandling of food by the military and IDP community leaders.

Lwemba camp is located 15 kilometers from Kalemie city center and the displaced themselves described their feelings: “We have been put here by the Commissioner and the United Nations … A while ago we had a seminar organized by OCHA on the rights of the displaced and we thought something would change but since then nothing has happened. Rather what we see everyday is UN personnel coming to take pictures of us and then leave. What they do with our pictures is unknown. We feel like merchandise. When we ask for humanitarian assistance based on what we have been told are rights of displaced persons UN officials turn us down.”

The camps in Kinshasa and Kalemie, which in one case is today identified in French by the displaced themselves as “le camp de la honte de l’ONU” [site of the UN’s shame], were set up by governmental authorities with the UN agencies, and OCHA in particular, assuming responsibility for coordinating protection and assistance activities. For several months the displaced have been left in a vacuum that is causing progressive deterioration of their living conditions while no durable solution has been pursued. IDPs feel that they have been abandoned by the humanitarian community because of the manipulation suffered at the hands of a few IDP leaders and mismanagement of assistance by military personnel. “We are displaced not because the country does not like us but because of the war. We are full of potential, we want to work but here there is no option,” said one member of the Nganda Musolo camp management.

Ironically, recent surveys aiming to determine those who want to return to their areas of origin have shown that more than two-thirds of these people are ready to leave and escape misery. Security is restored in many portions of the country and it would not be very complicated to assist them. This negligence is difficult to understand, especially considering the easy accessibility of these groups, the improved security conditions, and increased accessibility to the areas of return.

OCHA is the agency in the DRC with the responsibility for coordinating assistance and protection to IDPs. But when questioned about the status of those displaced visited by RI, OCHA dismissed the IDPs’ claims, saying that according to UN agencies like the WFP or UNICEF those groups “are no longer displaced and have developed survival mechanisms to the extent that they do not require assistance anymore,” or “the humanitarian community does not have enough resources and there are other priorities, such as those who spent their time in the forest and are returning to their villages.”

The humanitarian community that subscribed to the Principles of Engagement for Emergency Humanitarian Assistance in DRC has failed in its duty to the displaced hosted in camps, first by not assessing properly the degree of vulnerability before discontinuing the assistance and then by failing to mobilize resources and coordinate assistance for their return.

Therefore Refugees International recommends that:

• OCHA, in collaboration with the competent governmental authority and humanitarian agencies, mobilize resources in order to help those displaced living in Kinshasa and Kalemie camps who wish to return to their areas of origin in dignity and safety.
  
• Donor governments increase their support to programs for IDP assistance, protection, and return.
  
• OCHA, assisted by other UN agencies like WFP and UNICEF, promote specific initiatives aimed to address the nutrition, health and housing needs of vulnerable groups such us the elderly, the handicapped, single mothers and orphans both living in the camps and in the surrounding host communities in Kinshasa and Kalemie.
  
• A UN-led protection group establish a presence in the camps and take all necessary protection activities aimed to address gender-based violence and other human rights abuses.