Congolese refugees, with their belongings, cross the border to Uganda in
Nteko on January 24, 2018. Nearly 7,000 Congolese have also crossed
Lake Tanganyika and taken refuge in Burundi since January 24. PHOTO |
AFP
Laden with mattresses, suitcases, solar panels, chairs and
plastic buckets, thousands of refugees have crossed into Burundi in the
past three days to flee fierce fighting in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Burundi police said Friday.
Nearly 7,000
Congolese have crossed Lake Tanganyika and taken refuge in Burundi since
Wednesday as clashes raged between DR Congo government forces and
rebels in the troubled eastern province of South Kivu.
"Yesterday
[Thursday], Lake Tanganyika seemed to be completely covered by hundreds
of boats of all sizes, packed with refugees and their property, it was
quite sight," one rights activist told AFP.
Burundi
police said a total of 6,692 people had registered as refugees since
Wednesday to escape fighting between the army and the Yakutumba militia,
although the flow appeared to have since slowed.
President
Joseph Kabila, speaking at a rare press conference, described the
security situation in the east, much of which is in the hands of rival
militias, as "worrying".
A refugee who crossed into
Burundi described "very difficult living conditions" there, adding:
"There has been no food or water for the vast majority of us, we don't
have any toilets."
There was no immediate comment from the UN refugee agency or the Burundian authorities about the situation.
The
DR Congo government last week announced it was waging "war" against two
militias in the east — the Yakutumba and the Ugandan Islamist rebels of
the Allied Democratic Force (ADF).
The ADF are active
in North Kivu while the Congolese Yakutumba are several hundreds of
kilometres away in South Kivu. Both regions border Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi and Tanzania.
Rival militia groups have long
held sway over large areas in the two provinces, often competing for
their rich mineral resources.
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