Day: February 19, 2022

UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, is condemning the rise of militia group attacks on displaced people in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Armed groups mounted eight major deadly attacks against displaced people in Ituri province in just the first 10 days of this month.

UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov says displaced people in northeastern DRC have been targets of killings, kidnappings, looting of livestock and food, and other atrocities for years. But the intensity and brutality of these latest attacks, he says, are particularly shocking.

“Most recently, in the early hours of Tuesday, the 15th of February, militia fighters massacred 17 people with machetes in the locality of Lando, in Djugu territory. Eight children were among those killed. … A mother and her two children were burned alive as assailants set shelters ablaze,” Cheshirkov said.

One of the worst attacks occurred on February 1 when CODECO, an armed group composed of Lendu farmers, killed at least 62 displaced members of the Hema ethnic group.

Cheshirkov says more than 120 armed groups are operating in eastern DRC, so it is hard to know who is responsible for the current attacks in Ituri.

He says the UNHCR has increased security and surveillance in the displaced person camps it manages. Additionally, he says staff maintain close contact with U.N. peacekeeping soldiers in the area.

“We know that the authorities have also stepped up security across the region and introduced the state of siege back in May of last year. However, the attacks continue, and they intensify. People are killed, people are displaced and many of them have very, very serious humanitarian needs, and we have difficulties reaching them in many parts,” Cheshirkov said.

The U.N. agency reports there also have been brutal attacks against displaced people in Masisi territory in North Kivu province. It says conflicts in South Kivu have displaced at least 10,000 people this month.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says violence and conflict have displaced an average of 1 million people inside the DRC every year since 2016. Currently, there are more than 5.6 million displaced people in the country, the highest number in Africa.

Source: Voice of America

A new seasonal forecast for the drought-stricken Horn of Africa shows many parts of the region can expect a good rainy season.

The forecast by the World Meteorological Organization is good news for millions of people suffering acute hunger because of poor harvests caused by several years of drought.

However, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said that good news is coupled with warnings that people should still prepare for what she called a worst-case scenario.

“The March-to-May rainy season is really, really important for many countries in the region,” she said. “In the region, it accounts for about 70% of the total annual rainfall. So, obviously if there were to be a renewed failure of the rains, there would be massive socioeconomic consequences.”

The World Food Program says 12-14 million people in three of the worst-affected countries — Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia — are facing severe hunger due to the devastating drought across the Horn of Africa.

The WMO says southern to central parts of the region have the highest chances of receiving more rain than normal at this time of year. Countries include Tanzania, eastern Uganda, northern Burundi, and eastern Rwanda.

However, it says western South Sudan, and central and northeastern Ethiopia are likely to receive less rain than usual.

Given the below-average rainfall the past three seasons, meteorologists say a wetter-than-normal season does not mean the region will immediately recover from the drought.

Nullis said countries in the eastern part of the Horn should prepare for the worst.

“In the regions worst hit by drought, the current trends are comparable to those observed during the 2010-2011 famine and the 2016-2017 drought emergency,” she said. “There is obviously a delay between planting and harvesting. The next harvest will not start until about August, so we are not going to see any immediate positive impacts.”

More than a quarter-million people died in the Somalia famine between 2010 and 2012, more than half of them children. More than 6 million people, half of Somalia’s population, were ravaged by the severe 2017 drought. Few people died, though, because the international community responded quickly to the acute hunger emergency.

Source: Voice of America