Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Agenzia Fides) – Bishop Emilio Sumbelelo of Uije has launched an appeal to send emergency aid for Angolans forced to return to their native country, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (see Fides 4/11/2009).
“Help us as soon as possible, because otherwise it will be too late. The situation is beyond our capabilities,” the Bishop said on the airwaves of Radio Ecclesia, the radio run by the Bishops' Conference of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe.
Bishop Sumbelelo has visited various places where the returned refugees are being given make-shift shelters and where the influx of people being expelled from the DRC is constant, especially in Bela Vista and Kimbata, near Maquela do Zombo. In addition to Maquela do Zombo, where there are an estimated 6,000 returned refugees, there are also over 3,000 in the nearby city of Damba.
“Every day new refugees return,” the Bishop of Uije said in describing the dramatic situation. Bishop Sumbelelo has acknowledged the efforts made by the government and the humanitarian aid organizations, including those led by the Catholic Church. However, the Bishop highlighted that these efforts are “like a drop of water in the ocean, as there are so many in need of aid. I have seen people with their feet swollen from the long journey, up to 80 kilometers on foot. I have found people who have eaten nothing in two, three, or four days,” Bishop Sumbelelo.
The situation is worsening due to heavy rains beating down on the region. Bishop Sumbelelo recalled that during his visit to Maquela do Zombo, “it was pouring-down rain every day.”
Bishop Sumbelelo was moved to see mothers with the children without any shelter from the pouring rain, in Bela Vista and Kimbata.
The sanitary situation is disastrous, as the Bishop himself witnessed. In fact, he took one of the gravely ill with his own Jeep to a nearby clinic. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 5/11/2009)
