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Katanga's hopes for peace in 2014 unrealised

Countries
DR Congo
Sources
OCHA
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A SLIPPERY SLOPE CALLED KATANGA

The Katanga spiral continues…

After a difficult 2013, thousands of people living in Katanga were hoping for a more peaceful and prosperous 2014: we are far from that! Not a single week goes by without an attack on villages by the Mayi-Mayi. From 01 January to 31 March, more than 35 Mayi-Mayi attacks were reported in the Manono, Mitwaba and Pweto territories known as the « Triangle of Death », as well as in the Kalemie, Kipushi, Malemba-Nkulu and Moba territories. More than 1 500 homes have been burnt down, 875 of them in the Pweto Territory. Besides the Mayi-Mayi, other “self-defence forces” and community conflicts have increased the prevailing insecurity. Unfortunately, this situation continues to bring about new population displacements during which several children were separated from their families. In this climate marked by serious human right violations, basic facilities – schools, health centres - are also being targeted. By April 14, 2014, 500,000 persons were displaced inside Katanga: 68% in the territories of the « Triangle of Death”— Manono, Mitwaba and Pweto — as well as in those of Malemba-Nkulu and Moba; and 32% in the Pweto and Kalemie Territories.

During the first three months of 2014, nearly 100,000 people fled from their homes: over 35 000 in Malemba-Nkulu; 23 774 in Pweto and some 33 000 in Manono and Mitwaba. Pweto is still the territory with the most internally displaced persons, i.e. 36 % of the total number in the province. Unlike other provinces in the east of the country, there are no camps for displaced people in Katanga: 86% of displaced people are with host families —who are themselves often destitute — ; the other 14% are in the informal IDP sites of Kalemie, Manono, Moba and Pweto. At present, over 80% of displaced families are suffering from food insecurity because they cannot get to their fields or stock up in bare essentials at the local markets. Children under 5, pregnant women, and nursing mothers suffer from malnutrition.

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