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French.china.org.cn | Updated: 14-07-2018
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced Friday that its teams have recently been able to access the area east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ravaged by months of conflict between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups, and they had met 150,000 previously displaced people who have now returned home in the hope of finding their homes.
"The living conditions are harsh," UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday. According to him, nearly 350,000 people have fled the violence, and those who have returned home find, in many cases, villages and houses burned to the ground, perpetuating their status as displaced.
"Our team heard on place of numerous and horrendous reports of barbaric violence, including armed groups attacking civilians with rifles, arrows and machetes, as well as testimonies about entire villages razed, farms and shops looted and damaged without any hope of "On the spot, the humanitarian challenges are enormous, with hospitals, schools and other important infrastructure completely destroyed. UNHCR is particularly concerned about the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition who are in urgent need of medical care
Meanwhile, conditions at IDP sites are in desperate straits. In many places there is no safe water, no access to health care and inadequate sanitation. According to UNHCR, the situation is particularly worrying at the IDP site near Bunia General Hospital, where there is a significant risk of spreading diseases. "There, the death rate has risen, many people have been declared dead in June, while the number of people with respiratory diseases and anemia is rising rapidly," says Charlie Yaxley.
Meanwhile, UNHCR provides returnees and displaced persons with emergency shelter kits to temporarily replace damaged or destroyed homes. The UN agency also provides cash grants to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable IDPs. Some 1,500 families received an average of about $ 210, depending on the size of their homes.
In addition, UNHCR also stepped up its community engagement work to improve social cohesion among different ethnic groups.
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