Refugee Rights News
Volume 4, Issue 7
December 2008
Kisoro Awake!! The Clarion Call to Duty Beckons Once Again
A reflection by IRRI intern Azubike Onuora Oguno
The quiet town of Kisoro in western Uganda is adorned with green vegetation and volcanoes. Situated at the Ugandan border and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kisoro provides a thriving centre of gorilla tourism. Recently the tide of events in this small town changed dramatically.
On Friday 31 October, the local Uganda television (UBC) broke the news. A mass exodus of people from the North Kivu province of the DRC, which had been subjected to a rebel advance, marched in looking for safety. Once again, the conflict occasioned a migration of men, women and children from the DRC. Kisoro is called to awaken and be its brothers' keepers once again as the clarion call for duty beckons.
The Quiet of Kisoro Disturbed Once Again: The Catalytic Effect of the Current DRC Situation
It is no news that the DRC is engulfed in conflict and civil war. The current rebel advance in the east of Congo has caused several displacements in the past weeks. In the quest to find hope and safety, the border town of Kisoro is once again haven for helpless civilians.
Uganda has played host to over 250,000 refugees from Sudan, DRC, etc. The question is: how prepared is the town of Kisoro to host its recent visitors? On the last count, the Uganda New Vision newspaper reported that no less than 4,000 refugees are already being taken in by Ugandan families in Kisoro. Once again, while keeping their displaced brothers the people of Kisoro will have to cope with a steep increase in food prices. Listening to the WBS early morning edition of 12 November, people lamented the current hardship they face with demand for food and other amenities surpassing supply and availability.
International Law and its Agencies: Any Support in Sight?
International law places an obligation on states to provide protections for the rights of refugees and displaced persons. These protections ensure that refugees are not forced to return home until it is safe, and give favourable access to work, health care and formal or informal education. Most states, however, are unable to guarantee this.
The government of Uganda has responded with urgency to the Congolese arrivals, ensuring that they get received and initially settled in Kisoro.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has constructed a small transit centre and put in place a regular system of transportation from Kisoro to Nakivale for any willing refugee. These have been planned in conjunction with the local and central governments in Uganda, World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other NGO partners. As a result, refugees will at least have access to clean water, sanitation facilities, shelter and food. UNICEF has agreed to provide polio vaccines to immunize children, and water and sanitation support when needed. WFP also has contingency plans for increasing the food supply if the population increases.
The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) is distributing non-food items, and engaging in emergency health and hygiene promotion activities. The UCRS is working in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross to help with family tracing needs as well as providing essential household items for 500 families. In addition, UNHCR has planned a mass information campaign with Kisoro district officials to inform refugees about their rights and the kind of assistance offered in the settlements.
Despite these organised and strategic efforts to resettle the refugees away from their arrival location in Kisoro, many of the refugees have refused to move to the transit site that the UNHCR has established in Nyakabanda, 15km from the DRC border.
In 2007, Kisoro hosted no less than 8,000 refugees from Congo alone. Why have these refugees refused to go to the camps? Are they attracted to the generosity of the people of Kisoro? Or are they afraid of the experience they might face in a refugee camp? Surely, however, the willingness of refugees to stay in Kisoro points to the accommodating spirit displayed by the people of Uganda.
Challenges and Respite
The recent resolution by the United Nations Security Council to deploy 3,000 peacekeepers and the willingness of African countries to send in troops to calm the situation in the Congo definitely brings some excitement and hope to the displaced. However, analysts still disagree about both the way forward and the root causes of the violence in Congo.
Laurent Nkunda, the hero of some and a villain to others, is resolved that his war will bring a long lasting peace and solution to the violation of the "human rights" of "his people". He indeed has vowed to kill any black skinned peacekeeper he or his boys comes across. It is likely that many more will flee.
Thus, it may only remain a question of time for the DRC situation to create unprecedented hardship in the town of Kisoro. Kisoro Local Council (LC) must brace up for the recent challenges ahead and educate its people on how to play good hosts once again and be truly their brothers’ keepers. The international community must act with urgency to quell the current violence in the DRC. The countries of the Great Lakes must lend their support. Finally, Uganda must empower their border towns through the provision of useful education and the necessary wherewithal to be able to contend with the current situations.
