(VOVWORLD) - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees urged for a 621-million-USD fund on Friday to support countries in southern Africa and the Great Lakes region which are hosting more than 900,000 refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
 Inter-ethnic violence has ravaged the Ituri Province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, generating significant population movements within the province, and toward neighboring Uganda (Photo: UNICEF) |
Despite a peaceful transition of power following the December 2018 presidential election, ongoing conflict and inter-communal violence, particularly in the east, continue to uproot civilians both within and outside the country’s borders.
Most refugees fled to neighboring Uganda, which is sheltering nearly 400,000 people. Others went to Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and the Republic of Congo.
Host communities are already under financial pressure, leading to a lack of food, shelter, and other basic needs for asylums.