AFRICA/D. R. CONGO - “At least 50,000 people flee fighting in east Congo” says Italian Volunteer Service AVSI which has worked in the area for years

Goma (Agenzia Fides)- At least 50,000 are fleeing their homes to escape violence in north Kivu in Democratic Congo, caused by fighting between the regular army and rebels led by Laurent Nkunda which started at the end of August (see Fides 5, 6 and 8 September 2007). This is reported in a dramatic testimony sent to Fides by an Italian volunteer association Associazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale (AVSI) present in Congo since 2001 with various programmes to assist the people.
Recently in the Kivu region AVSI personnel where the association had have already built new schools and repaired damaged ones to enable 50,000 children to go to school, had to evacuate 45 builders and carpenters working on four school repair sites near Masisi. On 3 September, which should have been the first day of s school for 500,000 children in the province, the situation exploded after a week of unrest in Rutshuru and Masisi and clashes in some villages west of Goma.
There was fighting all around the city and at least 50,000 people had to flee into the forest for safety. More prudent estimates say the fighting will force as many as 320,000 will abandon their homes in the coming weeks.
The outbreak of the fighting coincided with the start of the rain season. This means, according to AVSI, that the people sheltering in the forest will have to face prohibitive weather conditions and unless they return to their villages and fields soon they will miss the sowing season.
In Goma humanitarian organisations are putting up a camp to shelter people in flight. “This is bad news: in the last four years there have been episodes of fighting but no camps had been opened. This is a sign that probably the people will not be returning home for some time”. The AVSI report concludes with a sad fact: “The Masisi medical dispensary recently admitted two women who had had both hands amputated with machete blows. Ii is inevitable to hear the terrible echo of the wars which in the past devastated the Great Lakes region”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2007 righe 33 parole 444)