Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP | The UN Security Council will press Myanmar to ensure that Rohingya who fled the country can return home in safety and freedom, an envoy said Monday after UN diplomats ended a tour of Bangladesh’s refugee camps. “This is a humanitarian crisis and a human rights …
Read More »Double curse: After drought, Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps hit by floods
Dadaab, Kenya | AFP | The children can’t believe their luck: storms and showers have turned their dirt football pitch into a lake. Youngsters scamper and splash through the murky water, chasing one another, leaping and laughing. Any entertainment is welcome in Dadaab, one of the biggest refugee bases in …
Read More »Cholera outbreak kills 40 Congolese refugees in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | More than 40 people who fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo have died from cholera at a refugee camp in Uganda, the Red Cross said Thursday. DR Congo’s eastern neighbour has been coping with a surge of refugees following the resumption in December …
Read More »Kadaga blames African leaders for worsening refugee crisis
Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has criticized African leaders for the influx of mainly African refugees to Europe and North America. Kadaga said African refugees make dangerous crossings through the Mediterranean, fleeing harsh economic conditions and conflicts in their countries. “Today, many of our countries are independent, …
Read More »Ugandan aid workers held for stealing refugee rations
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Ugandan police said Friday they had arrested 10 officials working at a camp housing refugees, mainly from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, for stealing food aid. Benon Byamukama, police chief for the region in western Uganda where the Kyaka II refugee camp is located, …
Read More »Equity Bank eyes refugee clientele
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Equity Bank Uganda in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund has intensified its drive for financial inclusion in Uganda by unveiling a new program called Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) that will ride on agency banking targeting refugees. The two partners recently …
Read More »Rohingya returnees won’t be kept in camps ‘forever’: Myanmar official
Maungdaw, Myanmar | AFP | A Myanmar official in Rakhine state said Saturday that Rohingya refugees who return will not be held in newly-built camps “forever,” as concerns mount over a vexed repatriation process. Ye Htut, the administrator of Maungdaw district, was speaking to reporters on a government-chaperoned trip to …
Read More »Fearing deportation, Burundi refugees quit DRC for Rwanda
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A group of 2,500 Burundian refugees, fearing repatriation to their home country, moved Wednesday from the Democratic Republic of Congo to nearby Rwanda, a spokesman said. The refugees belong to an obscure Catholic sect that follows a female prophet called Zebiya and claim to have …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Alarm as Cholera breaks out in Refugee camp
THIS WEEK: Alarm as Cholera breaks out in Refugee camp Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has confirmed an outbreak of cholera of cholera in Uganda’s biggest refugee camp in Kyangwali. According to a statement, 668 cholera cases had been identified in the camp by Feb.22 whereby …
Read More »Congolese cross a lake to escape an inferno
Sebagoro, Uganda | AFP | A daily flotilla of wooden canoes makes the 10-hour eastward crossing of Lake Albert ferrying hundreds of refugees from DR Congo’s latest spasm of violence to the safety of Uganda. The repurposed fishing vessels come to Sebagoro beach crammed with the bedraggled and dispossessed survivors …
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