UN Humanitarian chief calls for support for Congolese refugees in Rwanda

(Kigali/Geneva, 9 August 2012): The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, visited today the Kigeme refugee camp in southern Rwanda, where more than 11,500 Congolese are housed. About 20,000 people have crossed the border, fleeing armed violence in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Rwandan Government and the United Nations Refugee agency are in charge of the coordination effort in the camp with UN agencies and their non-governmental partners providing basic services such as water, sanitation, health and food.

“The Government of Rwanda has played a crucial role in the relief effort, providing a site where families, children separated from their parents, the elderly and other vulnerable persons have sought safety. However, more resources are needed to scale up the response,” Ms. Amos said.

She spoke to members of the Refugee Committee at the camp who spoke of their longing to return home and their desire for the violence to end.

Ms. Amos met Prime Minister Pierre Habururemyi and Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo in Kigali. The discussions centred on the ongoing relief efforts in DRC and Rwanda and the ways in which the United Nations and its partners are supporting them. The UN’s top humanitarian official shared with the ministers the challenges the humanitarian community continues to face including the need for increased financial support to maintain the relief effort. They also discussed regional efforts to resolve the crisis.

In addition to the Congolese who have fled to Rwanda and Uganda, 220,000 people have been displaced in North Kivu Province in DRC since April.

“The affected Congolese, in Rwanda and the DRC, want an end to the violence and a chance to return home. It is vital that all partners in the region contribute to solve this crisis which is affecting the region,” Ms. Amos said.