- Title: Tens of thousands of Congolese displaced by attacks in Ebola hotspot
- Date: 24th December 2019
- Summary: OICHA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DECEMBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SCHOOL COMPOUND WITH CLOTHES AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS STREWN AROUND VARIOUS OF A WOMAN PREPARING A MEAL AS CHILDREN LOOK ON VARIOUS OF 72-YEAR-OLD WIDOW, TAMANIA DOMINA, AND HER GRANDCHILD SEATED NEXT TO THEIR BELONGINGS (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) DISPLACED PERSON, TAMANIA DOMINA, SAYING: "I am in a very bad situation, we face starvation, we do not even have what to wear, I am an old widow, I am here with my 10 grandchildren. I've been here since November last year. I have really suffered here. I have no husband and I have grandchildren. I don't know what to feed them, I have to struggle a lot to get food for them." DOMINA SITTING OUTSIDE A CLASSROOM WITH HER BELONGINGS AS A CHILD AND LADY LOOK ON CHILDREN IN TATTERED CLOTHES GENERAL VIEW OF THE SCHOOL COMPOUND (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) COMMUNITY LEADER, BAGUMA AKOLOBA ISSA, SAYING: "What we have been crying for every day is peace and if we find peace in the Congo, everyone will return back to their homes. No one would prefer to live here like this because we are really suffering here." A BOY SITTING ON A MAKESHIFT LADDER VIEW OF SCHOOL COMPOUND (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) DISPLACED PERSON, ALISENI MATTHIAS, SAYING: "In this school, we live very poorly. We sleep between five and six households per classroom, yet each household has its children. We huddle in it as if we were in mourning. This is how we live here; without assistance since November 14 when we came here. We have not had any assistance. We do not know why our territory in Beni is so affected because all the other territories are at least calm, but ours is as if it has been cursed or is just hated by the authorities." VARIOUS OF A WOMAN AND CHILDREN CONSTRUCTING A MAKESHIFT SHELTER CHILDREN COLLECTING VEGETABLES
- Embargoed: 7th January 2020 14:40
- Keywords: ADF Ebola outbreak Mai Mai U.N. Mission in Congo displaced
- Location: OICHA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- City: OICHA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBC3XHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of people have fled their homes and villages to escape violence in the Beni region says the Center for the Study of Peace Promotion, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO).
At least 179 civilians have been killed, researchers say, since the Congolese army launched an offensive on Oct. 30 against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group active in eastern Congo.
Despite the the increased presence of government troops and peacekeepers with the U.N. Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) many have chosen to continue sleeping in churches and schools rather than return home.
"I am in a very bad situation, we face starvation, we do not even have what to wear, I am an old widow, I am here with my 10 grandchildren. I've been here since November last year. I have really suffered here. I have no husband and I have grandchildren. I don't know what to feed them, I have to struggle a lot to get food for them," says Tamania Domina, a 72-year-old widow staying at a makeshift camp in the town of Oicha.
Mai Mai militia fighters have also killed several people in the area which is one of the hotspots for Ebola.
Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through bodily fluids.
The world's second biggest Ebola epidemic on record has killed over 2,200 people since mid-2018.
Mai Mai fighters and local residents have attacked health facilities sometimes because they believe Ebola does not exist and in other cases because of resentment that they have not benefited from the influx of donor funding.
"What we have been crying for every day is peace and if we find peace in the Congo, everyone will return back to their homes. No one would prefer to live here like this because we are really suffering here," said Baguma Akoloba Issa, a community leader for the displaced.
The government says it has the ADF and other armed groups on the run, but many people feel the authorities are not doing enough to help them.
"In this school, we live very poorly. We sleep between five and six households per classroom, yet each household has its children. We huddle in it as if we were in mourning. This is how we live here; without assistance since November 14 when we came here. We have not had any assistance. We do not know why our territory in Beni is so affected because all the other territories are at least calm, but ours is as if it has been cursed or is just hated by the authorities," said Aliseni Matthias, another displaced person.
The surge in violence has not only displaced so many, it also led to deadly protests against the army and U.N. peacekeepers for failing to protect them.
It has also complicated efforts to stamp out the Ebola outbreak in the area. Infections have risen in areas health workers were been unable to access because of insecurity.
(Djaffar Sabiti, Edwin Waita, Okwi Okoh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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