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GENEVA / DRC DISPLACED
STORY: GENEVA / DRC DISPLACED
TRT: 02:16
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 OCTOBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Exterior, Flags
24 OCTOBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, Press Room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“We are becoming increasingly concerned by the escalating displacement we are seeing in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the last couple of years, the number of displaced people internally has more than doubled, it now stands at more than 3.9 million people.”
4. Close up, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“With widespread militia activity, unrest and violence fuelled by ethnic and political conflict affecting many areas, the risk of further displacement is high.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“The situation in the Kasai region is far from stable, humanitarian access has only just become possible in many areas.”
8. Med shot, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“Displaced people and refugees who have fled the violence over the past year have, in some instances, begun to return. As of 23 October, we had a figure of 710,000 people who had gone back. But many are finding their property in ruins, their family members killed or missing.”
10. Wide shot, press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Luescher, Spokesperson, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“We have declared this a level three emergency, that is the most severe status of an emergency, and we are scaling up our capacities in the provinces of Kasai and Kasai central.”
12. Medium shot, spokesperson
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Luescher, Spokesperson, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“In some of the worst off communities, nine out of ten people are hungry and one in two people are severely so. Acute malnutrition is well above the ten per cent emergency threshold and many people eat little more than a meal a day.”
14. Wide shot, press room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Luescher, Spokesperson, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“Despite the gravity of the situation, Kasai’s humanitarian crisis has received little attention. We need money to do our work. We have borrowed internally within WFP to get the operation going.”
16. Medium shot, podium
17. Wide shot, journalists
The number of internally displaced people in key regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has climbed to nearly four million since 2015, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says, warning that the risk of further displacement is high.
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters today (24 Oct) in Geneva “we are becoming increasingly concerned by the escalating displacement we are seeing in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
He added “over the last couple of years, the number of displaced people internally has more than doubled, it now stands at more than 3.9 million people.”
Of the nearly 4 million internally displaced people, some 428,000 have been displaced in the past three months alone. Over the past year, some 100,000 Congolese have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.
Edwards said “with widespread militia activity, unrest and violence fuelled by ethnic and political conflict affecting many areas, the risk of further displacement is high.”
In the eastern province of Tanganyika, where some 584,000 people are internally displaced, inter-communal conflict between the Twa and Luba groups spilled into the neighbouring Haut-Katanga province earlier this year.
Scores of civilians have been forced to flee from the spreading violence and there have been reports of murders, looting and extortion, torture and other inhumane treatment.
Meanwhile in the Kasai region in central-southern DRC, over 762,000 people have been displaced with an additional 27,555 Congolese in Angola’s Lunda Norte having fled the Kasai conflict and are receiving assistance by UNHCR and partners.
Edwards said “the situation in the Kasai region is far from stable, humanitarian access has only just become possible in many areas,” adding that “displaced people and refugees who have fled the violence over the past year have, in some instances, begun to return. As of 23 October, we had a figure of 710,000 people who had gone back. But many are finding their property in ruins, their family members killed or missing.”
UNHCR is coordinating protection activities for the displaced from the Kasai conflict, returnees and other vulnerable groups of civilians. They have also distributed basic relief items and are preparing additional support, particularly for the communities where the returns are taking place.
The flows of internally displaced people have also created a dangerous health situation as people are in need of basic necessities like food, shelter and water.
World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Bettina Luescher told reporters “we have declared this a level three emergency, that is the most severe status of an emergency, and we are scaling up our capacities in the provinces of Kasai and Kasaï-Central.”
She added “in some of the worst off communities, nine out of ten people are hungry and one in two people are severely so. Acute malnutrition is well above the 10 percent emergency threshold and many people eat little more than a meal a day.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Luescher said “Kasai’s humanitarian crisis has received little attention.”
She added “we need money to do our work. We have borrowed internally within WFP to get the operation going.”
According to UNHCR, some US $236.2 million is required to meet the needs of the refugees, internally displaced people and other vulnerable groups in DRC. Thus far, only a fifth of the amount (US $49.7 million) has been received to support the humanitarian response effort.
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