Three workers at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been injured after an attack against a convoy escorted by the 'blue helmets' in the area of Mambassa, in the province of Ituri, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC).
The attack, perpetrated by unidentified individuals, has occurred in a transfer of UNHCR staff from the city of Beni, on the edge of the Ituri forest, towards the Kirumba Territory, a city located in Kivu province of North, after the team provides humanitarian aid in the area.
"They have been taken to a safe place and transferred to the hospital, where they will receive treatment," according to a statement from the organization, which has been "shocked" by the attack and has called for it to be respected and protected both civilians and A Humanitarian workers.
The spokesman for the UN General Secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric, has underlined in a statement that "attacks against United Nations staff can constitute a war crime" and desired "a prompt and complete recovery to injured members."
"Calls on the Congolese authorities not to escitate efforts to investigate and hold the authors of this unacceptable attack without delay," Dujarric said.
On the other hand, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned in a statement that in the province of Ituri accumulates about 75,000 people displaced in a camp, in the Rhoe area, which has quadrupled in the Latest two weeks and that is inaccessible by land for humanitarian workers due to the presence of armed groups in the area. Of the total, at least there are 35,000 boys and girls, including more than 60 who have been separated from their parents.
In fact, it is estimated that about 50,000 people have arrived in the last two weeks to this camp, 45 kilometers northeast of Bunia, the provincial capital, after several attacks of armed groups in the Camps of Drodro and Tche, a situation that He has forced thousands of people to seek refuge in the east. The military have also destroyed several schools and hospitals in the area.
"The displaced persons fled to Rhoe hoping to find some kind of security and protection," said UNICEF official in the position in the area of Bunia, which has highlighted that within these "absolutely overcrowded) shelters. and unhealthy "Displaced face" serious feeding, sanitation, housing, protection and security problems ".
On the other hand, UNICEF has documented the violation of at least 13 girls when they tried to find food on the land adjacent to the camp, an area of irregular land and where water is scarce, so children descend the hill to collect the drinking water of the River, exposing themselves to the violence of armed groups and also diseases such as malaria or diarrhea.
The Rhoe Camp has a health center, but the organization notifies that there are few beds, that the staff performs 180 consultations a day and that they do not have the capacity to send severe patients to hospitals due to lack of equipment.
Date Of Update: 09 December 2021, 05:38
