In April, former rebel fighters, who had been integrated into the Congolese army, mutinied. Dubbing themselves M23, or Mouvement 23, they took control of an area close to the borders of Rwanda and Uganda. When the Congolese army called up troops from across the region to quell the rebellion, that deployment left a security vacuum, prompting other rebel groups and militia to reassert their control.
Now, caught in the crossfire, civilians face appalling abuse at the hands of multiple armed groups. One town—Kashuga in northern Masisi—was attacked 12 times between April and July. In a new report, Commodities of War, Oxfam has documented how these waves of conflict have affected more than 760,000 people so far this year.
“Ruthless militias and government troops are both mercilessly exploiting local communities to help fund their war,” said Elodie Martel, Oxfam’s associate country director. Forced labor and recruitment, illegal taxation, and pillaging are all tactics in this conflict, along with rape, kidnap, and murder.
“These armed men enter our homes and demand money. If you don’t give it, they will kill you,” said one man from Fizi in South Kivu.
“Men no longer walk around this village since they are the ones who are taken, mostly,” added a woman from Kalehe in South Kivu.
As insecurity and uncertainty mount, the pressure on people is growing.
“More than 50,000 people have fled camps and homes since yesterday and are in dire need of shelter, water, and food,” said Tariq Riebl on Monday. Riebl is Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Goma, the threatened capital of North Kivu and one of Congo’s larger cities around which cluster camps for displaced people. “Families have been split up overnight and people are desperately going between sites trying to find loved ones. If fighting intensifies further, there are very few places people can go for safety.”
Oxfam is aiming to reach about 230,000 people affected by this new crisis and since July has been responding to the needs of families in three camps near Goma. As of Tuesday the organization had helped 123,000 with clean water, sanitation services, and protection support. And public health teams have launched education campaigns to reduce the risk that waterborne diseases, such as cholera, could spread. But the largest of the camps, Kanyaruchina, where Oxfam has been building 700 latrines and 120 bathing stalls, is now deserted after people were forced to flee again.
For people of the eastern provinces, the violence is a grim reminder of how weak Congo’s national justice system is. Coupled with a lack of state authority and an ill-trained and poorly paid army, the consequence of that weakness has been decades of sporadic conflict triggered in part by ethnic tensions and disputes over land and resources. The danger and volatility make it very difficult for people to earn a living and have pulled many deeper into poverty.
“This war brings us extreme poverty and leave many killed,” a woman from Rutshuru in North Kivu told Oxfam. “Children no longer go to school and people flee to zones that are somehow safe. Those who return to their village to work their land to provide for their families are killed during clashes, or raped when a woman or girl is alone in the field.”
Oxfam is calling for an immediate halt to the fighting so that humanitarian aid can reach more civilians, especially those who have been displaced.
]]>Oxfam and our partners are now assisting more than 330,000 people in Darfur who have been affected by the conflict that began in 2003.
Armed clashes in Sudan continue to drive people from their homes. In January, more than 100,000 people fled the gold-mining area of Jebel Amir in North Darfur. Oxfam and a local partner have been assisting thousands of families with clean water, sanitation facilities, and relief materials like plastic sheeting and blankets.
Oxfam America is working with local Sudanese partners and community members to provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to more than 260,000 people in camps and villages in Darfur. Our water engineers are helping maintain the wells, pumps, tanks, pipes, and taps that deliver treated water to the settlements, and our sanitation and public health staff are ensuring that camp residents have latrines, bathing areas, soap, water cans, and access to the information they need to stay healthy under challenging camp conditions.
Many people affected by the conflict no longer have the means to make a dignified living. Farmers who have been displaced from their land, herders who have lost their animals, and widows who are trying to raise children alone have a range of needs as they try to restore their incomes. Oxfam partners have offered small business grants and loans, as well as vocational training and assets like donkey carts to many of the most vulnerable residents of the camps. In rural areas affected by the conflict, we are providing seeds, plows, and horse carts for farmers, as well as small business loans.
High-efficiency stoves can address an array of problems in Darfur. In a joint program with two partners, Oxfam America has supported local camp residents to assemble and distribute more than 15,000 stoves that are more than twice as efficient as traditional three-stone fireplaces. For the women who purchase their firewood in the market, the stoves reduce the cost of fuel and ease the heavy economic pressure on their families. But for those who must trek into the countryside to gather firewood, facing the risk of assault from armed bandits and militias, fuel-efficient stoves are even more critical. Read more about how the stoves have been making a difference.
Oxfam America's fuel-efficient stove program is helping protect Darfur’s fragile environment by reducing the need for firewood and charcoal.
Other environmental initiatives include planting and protecting tens of thousands of tree seedlings around school and camps for displaced people.
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In February 2012, key governments and institutions from the region and the wider Islamic and Western world will meet in London to chart a way forward. They must seize this opportunity to refocus on the Somali people that past policies have failed, developing more coherent strategies to ensure that aid and protection reach those who need it and addressing the root causes of the protracted conflict and chronic vulnerability in the country.
]]>In the briefing note, "A Shift in Focus – putting the interests of Somali people first", Oxfam said that at times international policies towards Somalia have been inconsistent, with support for state building and military interventions exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country and undermining the international community’s own relief efforts.
“It is time for a new vision of engagement that meets Somalis’ immediate and future needs, while providing the space for a negotiated peace process that puts Somalia on the road to recovery. Those attending the London Somalia conference must seize this opportunity and help start the process to address the causes of the conflict in Somalia and put the interests and aspirations of the Somali people center stage,” said Oxfam America Senior Fellow Scott Paul.
The agency said the London conference is an opportunity to stake out a new approach to the country by shifting the emphasis away from security concerns and taking practical steps towards an inclusive political solution to the conflict and crisis. Sustained international aid is essential, both to save lives now and to help the Somali people rebuild their future, but to be effective this must be kept clearly separate from any political and security efforts.
Oxfam said that although responsibility for Somalia’s decades long crisis lies first and foremost with factions inside the country, international engagement has at times made matters worse. For many governments involved in Somalia current military action is seen as improving security and stability, both in neighboring countries and in Somalia itself, but reports from inside the country tell a different story.
Population tracking reports show that nearly half of the people displaced in January were fleeing insecurity, largely from areas seeing a return to armed conflict. Camps where civilians have sought refuge have been struck by warring factions on opposing sides, along with hospitals, a feeding center and more than one aid agency compound.
Aid agencies offering life-preserving assistance have also faced obstructions from warring factions on both sides of the conflict in trying to reach those in need.
“The US has a duty to promote adherence to international law by all parties to the war in Somalia – and although the US may not have influence with all armed factions within the country, it does have leverage to ensure that AU and TFG forces in Somalia and their allies comply with their legal obligations to protect civilians." Paul said. “The US must use that leverage.”
Oxfam said that the success of the London Somalia conference will be judged on whether it results in:
Oxfam's work—whether helping Guatemalan women organize to fight gender violence, funding irrigation projects in Ethiopia, or standing with people in Darfur—is about building the resilience of local communities over the long haul. We cannot prevent shocks, but we can help our sisters and brothers access some of the same resources we have to cushion us when times are lean.
We cannot rush from crisis to crisis with short-term fixes. What more evidence do we need than what is happening in East Africa now? This is not the region's first famine, but imagine the headline: Africa's last famine.
As battles continue around the presidential residence in Abidjan, serious violence against civilians is still being reported in the west of the country.
Oxfam staff in the Liberian coastal town of Harper say that more than 4,000 people have arrived there in the past 24 hours alone, fleeing violence around the Ivorian coastal town of Tabou.
“We are hearing that as many as 7,000 more people are on their way here,” said Shemeles Mekonnen, Oxfam’s Public Health Engineer in Maryland, southeast Liberia. “People have been caught up in violent attacks and are running from their homes with nothing.
“Refugees are speaking of fighting, looting, and burning of homes. This crisis is far from over, and the needs are immense. People are fleeing for their lives and are in dire need of clean water, food, and shelter. Many are saying they are too scared to return home anytime soon. Refugees will need our help for months to come.”
Mekonnen spoke to 56-year-old Catrien Gato, who fled her village Hepo in Ivory Coast, amid conflict. She traveled with her 12 children and grandchildren.
“Things in the village were really scary,” she told Oxfam. “There was a lot of fighting, looting, and burning. It seemed everything was being destroyed. The police were nowhere, and there was no law and order. I don’t even want to think about going back. Things are very dangerous there.”
So far, more than 100,000 Ivorian refugees have been registered in Liberia. Most are living in extremely poor conditions in transit centers or local communities.
Oxfam is installing water tanks, latrines, and showers in the Liberian town of Maryland for the refugees crossing the border, in addition to providing clean water and sanitation services to thousands of people further north along the Ivory Coast-Liberia border.
Oxfam has flown in supplies for 70,000 people and is sending a team of aid experts into Ivory Coast in the coming days to evaluate how to respond to the crisis, but the agency warns that any aid operation there will be extremely difficult due to ongoing conflict.
]]>"We are helping people who have walked for long days to reach the border, they are exhausted and in need of immediate assistance. Families in some poor border villages have been supporting refugees for months and have nothing left to give,” said Tariq Riebl, Oxfam's Humanitarian Manager in Liberia.
There are already more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to remote border villages in Liberia where Oxfam has set up water and sanitation facilities. The organization is working in transit sites in Grand Gedeh eastern Liberia and will be distributing essential relief to refugees, as well as helping families hosting refugees to restock dwindling food supplies.
Oxfam has flown in supplies for 70,000 people and will provide long-term support to local communities, many who have been generously helping refugees since the disputed election last November.
“This crisis has been kept in the shadows for far too long. Only now is the world recognizing the immense scale of the human suffering with more than one million people forced to flee their homes. Some have managed to make the difficult journey through the forest to some sort of sanctuary across the border in Liberia. We are getting aid to people who have fled but conditions for refugees are very difficult and we need a huge aid push to avoid a public health disaster,” said Riebl.
The full picture of the humanitarian crisis In Ivory Coast is yet to emerge, with close to one million people made homeless by the violence and insecurity hampering the few aid agencies operating in the country. Oxfam is sending in a team of experts this week to evaluate how to respond to the crisis, but the agency warns that any aid operation will be extremely difficult due to ongoing conflict.
“This aid operation will not be easy. Even when fighting ends, we know there will be months of work ahead to help people start to put their lives back together,” said Riebl.
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More than 100,000 people have already crossed the border from Ivory Coast to Liberia and are living in dire conditions in border villages. Unless more is done to get people to safe and serviced areas further inland, they risk being cut off as the rainy season approaches.
“People have fled violence and are now living with families in Liberia in remote jungle areas along the border,” said Oxfam spokesperson Caroline Gluck in Liberia. “When the rains come, we will not be able to reach them with aid because the whole area will become inaccessible. The clock is ticking to get people to safe and reachable areas.”
As the situation in Ivory Coast changes daily, more and more people are crossing the borders of neighboring countries in search of help. Oxfam warns that the potential influx of refugees over the weekend could make the humanitarian situation in Liberia much worse.
The rainy season, which is starting now, will make roads to remote villages along the border impassable.
“People are walking four or five days before crossing a river to reach safety,” said Gluck. “Fathers are carrying their young children on their backs through deep forest and surviving on raw vegetables.
“Some are sleeping 35 people to a room, forced to spend nights sitting up when it rains. There is a severe lack of food, shelter and medical care.
“Most people have fled their homes after armed men stormed their village. Communities in Liberia are generously supporting thousands of people but they don’t have the supplies to provide help any longer. Much more needs to be done to help people who have fled violence and are now stranded with very little.”
Oxfam is providing clean water to refugees in Liberia and will help families hosting refugees to restock diminished food supplies.
]]>Oxfam has rushed aid to Liberia, airlifting 50 tons of relief supplies—such as water tanks, drilling equipment, and sanitation facilities—to assist 70,000 people.
"The border areas are dangerous, and living conditions there are desperately poor," says Chals Wontewe, Oxfam's country directory in Liberia. "There is an urgent need for transportation to help refugees move to camps further inside Liberia, where food and shelter can be safely provided. This needs to happen before the rainy season and further refugee flows make the challenge even harder."
Most refugees are staying with host families near the border, but conditions are dangerously inadequate, with most lacking adequate shelter, clean water, and basic sanitation. Oxfam will provide seeds and agricultural support to host families who by aiding refugees have jeopardized their own food security.
Donate now to Oxfam's Ivory Coast/Liberia Refugee Crisis Fund.
]]>Oxfam is deploying a team of aid experts and preparing to provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies to refugees in Liberia. Conditions for refugees and host communities in the border areas are very poor, with people receiving inadequate assistance.
“This could become Africa’s latest forgotten crisis. Thousands of civilians are fleeing for their lives yet the international community is failing to respond adequately. The world risks being seriously unprepared for the escalating crisis in West Africa,” said Chals Wontewe, Oxfam’s Country Director in Liberia.
“For more than three months now, the people of Ivory Coast have been living with the threat of violence, intimidation, economic collapse, and sexual assault. The situation is now deteriorating rapidly and urgent action is needed to avert a humanitarian crisis.
“The conditions for refugees and communities hosting them in Liberia are extremely worrying. People are in dire need of the very basics—clean water, food, and shelter,” said Wontewe.
The large influx into Liberia is already putting a severe strain on poor villages, forcing camps and transit centers to be set up, mainly in Nimba county in eastern Liberia and further south along the Ivory Coast-Liberia border.
The crisis in Ivory Coast caused by the contested presidential election in November 2010 has resulted in months of instability and a steep increase in violent clashes in the past week. As well as rising political and military tensions, many banks remain closed, prices of basic goods are rocketing, and more than 500,000 people have lost their jobs.
“The next few weeks will be crucial. Governments, the UN, and aid organizations must respond to the increasing need and ensure relief supplies reach eastern Liberia before the rainy season starts to hamper access,” said Wontewe. “The situation is quickly deteriorating and requires a rapid response.
“This must not be allowed to develop into another forgotten crisis. Growing humanitarian needs will require much more attention than they are getting at the moment, and must be backed up by significant funds and resources.”
]]>This paper was produced by organizations working in the affected countries or advocacy groups with a long-standing commitment to resolving the LRA threat: Broederlijk Delen, Cafod, Christian Aid, Conciliation Resources, Cordaid, Danish Refugee Council, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Intersos, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Pax Christi Flanders, Peace Direct, Refugees International, Resolve, Society For Threatened Peoples, Tearfund, Trocaire, War Child UK, World vision.
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