In attempts to clamp down on what it called illegal diamond mining operations, Angola\u2019s government ordered the expulsion of more than 3,60,000 Congolese nationals, forcing them to flee in October 2018 into the Kasa\u00ef region of neighbouring DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis new shock is compounding an already dire situation in the same area that was the epicentre of the Kasa\u00ef crisis over the last couple of years,\u201d explained Dan Schreiber, head of coordination in Congo for the UN\u2019s emergency aid body, OCHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congolese migrants and officials said the crackdown was violent, telling Reuters that dozens of people were killed, with the worst attacks occurring in Lucapa in Angola\u2019s diamond-rich Lunda Norte province. Angolan security forces denied the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of those expelled crossed into Kamako in Kasa\u00ef province, where aid organisations are responding to the tail-end of the Kamuina Nsapu insurgency that first erupted in 2016. Some of the returnees include refugees who fled violence in Kasa\u00ef over the last two years, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NRC said the conditions returnees face in Congo are \u201cshocking\u201d, including the risk of waterborne disease due to ineffective water and sanitation; thousands sleeping outdoors because of insufficient shelter; food prices tripling; and extortion of goods on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHundreds of thousands of people have been robbed of their right to a dignified existence,\u201d said Ulrika Blom, NRC\u2019s country director in DRC. \u201cThis is not a crisis that is about to begin, it is a full-blown emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While local communities have generally been welcoming the returnees, OCHA\u2019s Schreiber said skirmishes erupted in certain villages, mainly over the strain on limited food resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExperience in the DRC does show that when you have a large influx of people arriving in an area it can generate tensions between host communities and the people who arrive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schreiber said OCHA has seen most returnees wanting to move away from the border areas and toward other destinations inland, which could help ease the humanitarian strain in Kasa\u00ef, but he also warned that more returnees could arrive from Angola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t expect the first wave to be the last wave,\u201d he said. \u201cExpulsions from Angola are a cyclical phenomena that go all the way back to 2002-2003. It\u2019s not a new phenomenon, but in this case we are seeing a major influx, and clearly the absorption capacity is not there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kasa\u00ef was a relatively stable region in an unstable country \u2013 one currently dealing with multiple conflicts, an Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province, and one of the world\u2019s most neglected displacement crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation in Kasa\u00ef changed dramatically in 2016 when conflict erupted between the Kamuina Nsapu anti-government movement and Congolese security forces. The inter-communal clashes spread far and wide, soon engulfing the entire region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conflict escalated in 2017, with massacres and mass graves, as well as general insecurity marked by banditry, and poor harvests that led to food insecurity and malnutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An estimated 5,000 people have since been killed and more than 1.4 million displaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toward the end of 2017 and into 2018, the crisis eased slightly, as national authorities regained control over large parts of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite isolated bouts of violence, aid groups say most militias have been formally disbanded and displaced communities are tentatively returning home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut those returns are accompanied by many needs, because people are returning to burned villages, destroyed homes, and a lot of destruction,\u201d said OCHA\u2019s Schreiber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years of violence and displacement also mean locals have been unable to grow crops for three seasons, which has led to concerns over malnutrition. \u201cWe have really seen food insecurity skyrocket. So even in areas where returns have occurred, humanitarian needs have not come to an end,\u201d Schreiber added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the current influx of people from Angola isn\u2019t directly linked to the Kamuina Nsapu rebellion, aid groups are concerned about the implications of piling one problem on top of another in the same geographic area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the most vulnerable groups, specifically women and children, the challenges that affect those displaced by the insurgency also pose risks for the new returnees from Angola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May for instance, UNICEF reported that 4,00,000 children were \u201cat risk of death\u201d in the Kasa\u00efs, because of food shortages. Yves Willemot, a spokesman for UNICEF in Congo, said the rate of severe acute malnutrition among children living in the region has improved slightly since earlier this year but \u201cremains challenging\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe security situation has clearly improved, but the impact on children is not ending in the short term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those newly returned from Angola are 80,000 children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They now are also at risk, forced to walk long distances while exposed to inclement weather, hunger, and the threat of violence. Willemot said basic services are lacking for them, including access to drinking water, schooling, and treatment for diseases like malaria and measles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) is among the NGOs initiating primary healthcare services for the recent arrivals, while also continuing interventions to assist the local population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a recent report, MSF documented alarming levels of rape in the Kasa\u00ef region, saying it treated 2,600 victims of sexual violence between May 2017 and September 2018; 80% of those interviewed said armed men raped them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe sexual violence committed in Kasa\u00ef was perpetrated largely by armed groups against non-armed people,\u201d Philippe Kadima, MSF\u2019s humanitarian advisor for the Great Lakes region, told IRIN. \u201cAlthough the main conflict is over, we still see some violence happening in Kasa\u00ef.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the more than 3,00,000 returnees, he said there are clear humanitarian concerns, but also the risk of insecurity. \u201cThe question is, how do you keep people secure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDisplaced people become vulnerable, so it\u2019s not that different to what the existing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kasa\u00ef are going through\u2026 Security concerns, humanitarian needs, and risks of sexual violence are all factors when people become vulnerable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humanitarian needs remain critically underfunded in the Kasai region, said OCHA\u2019s Shreiber, emphasising that beyond the immediate concerns are much broader needs in the region and the DRC as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the humanitarian response must help minimise the long-term impact of the crisis on those affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe longer we remain in this critical phase, the more we can expect to see humanitarian needs spiral out of control,\u201d he said. \u201cThe current trigger of new humanitarian needs (the returnees from Angola) may be time-bound, but I think the impact will be lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schreiber said the Kasa\u00ef region remains vulnerable because it faces particular challenges, including decades of underdevelopment and inaccessibility as a result of poor road infrastructure, and he urged more development actors to get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople in the Kasa\u00efs are eager to rebound, to be back on their feet, and move on. There is no expectation that humanitarian assistance should continue forever in the Kasa\u00ef region,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople want to be autonomous, but what they need is support to build up their resilience and be able to move towards a situation where their most basic needs are met and they are able to think about their futures again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Kasa\u00ef region in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is struggling to recover from two years of intense conflict. The influx in October last year of more than 300,000 people from Angola, most of them long-standing migrant workers, has made a fragile humanitarian situation worse. IRIN presents a briefing on the risks for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-6551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulletin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n