Hope for Congolese displaced by LRA

Mbikamboli has no idea what happened to his children after that although he did learn that his daughter was shot and killed by the rebels several days later, after she tried to escape. He assumes that his two sons were brainwashed and forced to take up arms and fight alongside the rebels which is the experience of other children abducted by the LRA.

Shortly after the abduction and following more similar incidents in the area, Mbikamboli, his wife and 9-year-old daughter ‘who the LRA were not interested in’ fled their home in Banda, in Bas Uélé District.

They walked 380 kilometres to the east through the bush over three weeks and made it to the small town of Ndedu, where they had relatives and where they are currently living.

Safe town
Ndedu is safe from LRA attack, or has been up to now, so it has attracted many other families who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of rebel assaults. Around 7,500 people fled to Ndedu, a town with a population of 15,000.

The Administrative Secretary of Ndedu, Mr Faustin Zungunbia, says most families are extremely traumatised by their experience at the hands of the LRA. “The rebels steal, rape, maim and kill and have created a climate of fear in this region. People are still very afraid,” he added, “And it will take a long time before they get over what happened.”

Although the LRA originated in northern Uganda with the aim of bringing down the government, it was driven out of the country in early 2009 and spread its operations to southern Sudan, Central African Republic and the eastern DRC. Its objectives under its cult-like leader, Joseph Kony, are now not so clear.

In Uganda alone over a two-decade period, an estimated 20,000 children were abducted and two million people forced to flee their homes. In the DRC it is estimated that over 320,000 people have been displaced. The LRA is notorious for massacring civilians and disfiguring those it allows to live.

There are an unknown number of rebels left under Kony’s command spread out in small groups across forested areas of central Africa, enough to cause panic and further displacements of people and a continued humanitarian crisis.

In Ndedu, displaced people like Mbikamboli are benefitting from the intervention of humanitarian aid agencies. The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department has a 45 million country programme for the DRC and is supporting health care access for both displaced people and the local population as well as the building of wells and safe water sources.

The lack of clean and safe water and the increase in demand due to the displaced people meant providing reliable water supplies was a priority.

Kind hand
Eastern DRC-based ECHO expert, Nicolas Le Guen, says the main concern is to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people. “The LRA continues to cause people to take flight, so we need to be there to respond to their needs, whenever they occur. This is a challenge given the size and lack of infrastructure in the DRC, but one we are committed to meeting.”

Some displaced people have now started returning home from Ndedu and are hoping to lead normal lives again. Mbikamboli knows his daughter is not coming back, however, in the second week of January, he did receive some good news; his two sons are alive.

They were freed by the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces which are pursuing the LRA in the DRC. A reunion is planned in the near future which will give Mbikamboli and his family the opportunity to rebuild their life.