MAF has been able to continue flights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (East) despite violent clashes between government and rebel forces in at least three hot spots.The ongoing unrest has displaced more than 250,000 people with families being forced to move back and forth, never knowing in which direction to turn for safety and shelter.
The Red Cross described the crisis as a human catastrophe.
MAF Manager of Research, Mr Ron Wismer, said three different "events" occurring on the ground in East Congo throughout October and November 2008 had made operations difficult but relief flights were made possible due to an easing of the crisis at certain times.
He said the first event took place in the region of Goma and had probably received most of the international news coverage.
"In and around Goma there have been - for several years - refugee camps which are now being vacated due to a rebel group led by a Congolese Tutsi named Nkunda," said Mr Wismer.
"There are several factors involved in this situation, but it is still mostly related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda . We (flew) for some groups involved in the relief effort and made flights with our caravan based in Bunia.
"The second event (occurred) along the northern border of Congo , the southern border of Sudan and the western border of Uganda, basically the north east corner of Congo. The problem in this area revolves around the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an insurgency group from Uganda led by Joseph Kony. We are flying a fair amount in response to this problem - mostly for Medair.
"The third "event" is a small pocket of militia around Nyankunde - our old base about 25 kilometers from Bunia. This problem is actually more tribal based and is not a huge problem, except that it affects the security in and around Bunia where we are currently based.
"We did evacuate the families but then allowed them back in as the UN has shown that they can protect the city of Bunia." |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 06 February 2009 )
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