Hungry Congo refugees get soap, no food

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-04 09:22

KIBATI, Congo -- Refugees who haven't eaten for days cheered when the first humanitarian convoy in a week arrived Monday at their camp, but the jubilation turned into anger when UN workers dumped soap and jerry cans instead of food and sped on past rebel lines.

United Nations peacekeepers drive past local residents as they head to Rutshuru to relaunch UN operations in the area, north of the provincial capital of Goma, DR Congo. Rebel forces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo accused the government Monday of having "launched the war on its people" by refusing to negotiate with them. [Agencies]

UN officials admit hunger at the Kibati camp, where tens of thousands of refugees have sought safety, is dire but say their first priority is resupplying clinics looted by retreating government troops.

"Are we supposed to eat this?" asked Boniface Ndayumujinya, an elderly man who waved a bundle of spring onions delivered by a friend. He said he was with eight family members who had had nothing to eat in five days.

UN peacekeepers escorted the 12-vehicle aid convoy carrying medical supplies north from the provincial capital of Goma, past Kibati, and beyond rebel lines to Rutshuru, a village 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of Goma.

Both the Congolese army and rebel leader Laurent te, watched with horror as thousands of children lined up in the sun for hours at the Kibati camp to get tokens that will allow them to queue for high-energy biscuits.

The children thought they were waiting for the biscuits.

"We really need to re-think humanitarian aid," Sematumba said. "If you can't help people, don't create false hopes."

UN officials said the token system was necessary because of the unrest that broke out when aid workers tried to distribute biscuits directly.

All sides are believed to fund fighters by illegally mining Congo's vast mineral riches, giving them no financial incentive to stop the fighting.

Nkunda called a cease-fire in what appeared a political move, and declared he was opening a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to get through and refugees to get home. To ease food shortages, rebels on Monday allowed farmers to reach Goma in trucks packed with cabbages, onions and spinach.

Government troops, who looted and raped in Goma as they retrerned at least three refugee camps around Rutshuru, apparently wanting to make sure people do not return.

The rebels deny this, saying they told people that they could go home now that they have "liberated" the area.

Nkunda's rebellion has threatened to re-ignite the back-to-back wars that afflicted Congo from 1996 to 2002, drawing in a half dozen African nations. Congo President Joseph Kabila, elected in 2006 in Congo's first election in 40 years, has struggled to contain the violence in the east.