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Oxfam International
* The World is Watching You
Oxfam demands France, Germany and UK face up to the humanitarian crisis in
Congo and get behind European 'bridging force'
3 December 2008
A consignment of 25 tons of aid bound for the Democratic Republic of
Congo. The $250,000 (£172,000) worth of aid includes water and
sanitation equipment and plastic sheeting and is enough for more than
30,000 people. Credit: Ian Bray/Oxfam
We've managed to start trucking water into the region, but insecurity
restricts our ability to help.
"EU leaders have to face up to the stark choice before them.
Failure to do so means armed men go on murdering."
Elise Ford Head of Oxfam's EU Advocacy Office, Brussels
International agency Oxfam today accuses European member states of
turning their backs on the suffering of the people in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The crisis in DRC is horrendous for hundreds of thousands of people
displaced due to the unabated violence and agencies are finding it
extremely difficult to get aid to those in need.
Oxfam urges European governments, particularly France, Germany and the
UK who have the capacity to lead the way, to ensure the swift
deployment of a peacekeeping force to provide greater protection for
people in desperate need now.
The UN Security Council recently agreed that the UN peacekeeping
mission in DRC needed a further 3,000 troops, but it will take up to
six months for them to be deployed. The EU has the ability to deploy a
force which could provide greater protection for civilians now, until
the MONUC reinforcements arrive.
"Oxfam is extremely disappointed by the unwillingness of European
governments to provide a temporary peacekeeping mission to DRC. Member
states must live up to their responsibility to protect civilians
caught up in fighting and they must do it now. EU leaders have to face
up to the stark choice before them. Failure to do so means armed men
go on murdering, raping and looting indiscriminately and the enormous
suffering in DRC continues." said Elise Ford, head of Oxfam's EU
office in Brussels.
Juliette Prodhan, head of Oxfam in DRC said: "Just because the media
spotlight is no longer so focussed on the crisis in North Kivu does
not mean that the humanitarian catastrophe has abated. The people here
cannot wait six months for further protection.
"The fighting goes on between the different factions, there are still
large numbers of armed men across the region terrorising local people,
and thousands of Congolese people are still being forced to flee their
homes every day.
"The EU governments are turning their back on the tens of thousands of
vulnerable people in need of urgent protection. We cannot stand by and
allow this to happen."
Fighting in the Masisi area, 60km from the North Kivu capital Goma,
over the last two days, has forced thousands of people to abandon
their homes and aid agencies to evacuate the main town.
An upsurge in violence in the border town of Ishasha, over the weekend
led to 13,000 more civilians fleeing into Uganda.
The humanitarian situation is alarming in the major town of
Kanyabayonga, 150km north of Goma, where the 60,000-strong population
was forced to flee two weeks ago when armed men went on the rampage,
looting and raping. Oxfam has managed to start trucking water into the
region, but the insecurity in the whole region means aid agencies
cannot work in the town for more than two hours a day before having to
retreat to safer areas once it gets dark.
"About half of the people in Kanyabayonga are still spending their
nights in the bush because they are afraid of being robbed or raped in
their homes. The number of armed men in the area means the people risk
their lives just to grow, buy or sell the food they need to survive,"
said Martin Hartberg, Oxfam's protection advisor.
Meanwhile, people living in and around the two Kibati camps, a few
kilometers north of Goma, are under a constant threat of violence,
rape and looting due to large numbers of armed men in the vicinity.
An Oxfam survey makes clear that the people in these camps are menaced
on a daily basis by armed men. People in the camps are also afraid of
being caught in the crossfire should fighting break out again.
"France which currently holds the EU presidency has already shown
strong political commitment by helping to persuade the UN Security
Council to authorize MONUC to deploy more troops on the ground. But
the people in North Kivu urgently need greater protection now and some
EU member states are willing to provide it. French Foreign Minister
Bernard Kouchner must now mobilize the political will that is so
urgently needed and gain agreement for the swift deployment of a
peacekeeping force," said Nicolas Vercken, Oxfam conflict advocacy
officer in Paris.
Contact information
For more information, please contact:
Emma Pearson in Goma on +243 813 135 040.
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