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DR Congo + 6 more

UNHCR DR Congo Factsheet - December 2017

Attachments

537,087 refugees in DRC.

623,059 DRC refugees in Africa.

18,609 Rwandan refugees returned voluntarily in 2017.

Working with Partners

■ Together with the DRC Government, through the National Commission for Refugees (CNR), UNHCR ensures international protection and delivery of multi-sectorial assistance to persons of concern. UNHCR closely collaborate with other UN Agencies and other humanitarian actors for a coordinated and effective response. UNHCR works with 15 implementing partners (ACTION AID, ADES, ADSSE, AIDES, AIRD, CIAUD CANADA, COOPI, CNR, INTERSOS, MIDEFEHOPF, NRC, SAVE CONGO, SAVE THE CHILDREN, SFCG and TSF) and many operational partners.

■ UNHCR leads the Protection Cluster, which coordinate the protection actors in their support of IDPs and other vulnerable. UNHCR co-leads the Protection and Prevention component of the National Strategy on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in DRC.

Main Activities

Refugees from Burundi

■ 1,700 Burundian refugees (496 households) were relocated from transit centres and reception structures to the new site of Mulongwe in December.

■ In Mulongwe, 107 households received plots of land during the month of December. All refugees relocated to the site relief items including mats, blankets, soap, kitchen sets, jerrycans and buckets.

■ Refugees relocated to Mulongwe site received WFP food rations while waiting to be registered in WFP SCOPE database and to be given electronic ration cards for the food fair.

■ UNHCR has started a registration operation of all Burundian refugees in South Kivu province under the new biometric registration system (BIMS). In December, 18,082 refugees in Lusenda camp were verified and registered through the BIMS system.

Refugees from South Sudan

■ South Sudanese refugees continued to arrive in DRC. Refugees arrived from Yei River State and found shelter at Meri site in Aba, Haut-Uélé province.

■ Some 830 South Sudanese refugees were biometrically registered in December.

■ At the beginning of December, the refugee site Kaka 1 near Dungu center was inaugurated and the first emergency shelters were handed over to the refugees who previously lived with Congolese host families or at the local primary school, and to the newly arrived.

■ 220 Congolese families in Dungu who had hosted refugees received a one-off cash grant of 90 USD from UNHCR. Despite the modest conditions, these families voluntarily accommodated refugees and shared their houses and food, and contributed significantly to the integration of the refugees into the local community.

Refugees from Central African Republic

■ The biometric registration of Central African refugees living outside camps in NordUbangi province has been closed. A total of 39,150 people were registered.

■ From 4 to 9 December, UNHCR and WFP distributed cash to new refugees living outside the camps and to host families in Mobaye Mbongo, Lembo, Kambo, Mogoro and surrounding areas of Gbadolite. Among the beneficiaries there are 5,593 refugee households of 20,261 persons and 1,229 host families of 6,145 persons.

■ 4,174 children aged 0 to 4 years born in DRC received birth certificates after mobile court hearings held from 11 to 31 December for the issuance of supplementary judgments for children in Mole, Boyabu and Bili camps as well as those living outside Inke camp.

■ In Ndu village, Bas-Uele province, the partner ADES obtained from local authorities, plots of land to enable refugees and host community to carry out agricultural activities. In Monga, the partner distributed 300 hoes to refugees and host community for agricultural activities.

Refugees from Rwanda

■ In December, 2,557 Rwandan refugees returned voluntarly to Rwanda from North and South Kivu. A total of 18,609 Rwandan refugees returned voluntarly to Rwanda in 2017.

Internally displaced persons:

■ UNHCR led coordination of Protection actors under the Protection Cluster in Kasai and Kasai Central provinces.

■ In the context of the declaration of a Level-3 Emergency for several regions in DRC (Kasai region, South Kivu Province, Tanganyika Province), UNHCR deployed more emergency staff.