Uganda on Wednesday received 213 asylum seekers at Nyakabande Transit Center in Kisoro District who entered the Country through Bunagana Border. The asylum seekers entered Uganda seeking refuge from the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo that is under attack from M23 rebels.
The total population of the asylum seekers at the holding area and Transit center now stands at 18,048 individuals; that is 1,567 at the transit center and 16,481 at the holding center.
Cumulatively, the number of asylum seekers at Nyakabande Transit Center manually registered from 28th March 2022 reached 27,276 individuals of 14,119 households.
The Kisoro Resident District Commissioner Hajj Shafique Ssekandi says 436 refugees of 231 Households were relocated from Nyakabande Transit Center to Nakivale Refugee Settlement with Police escorts.
He also revealed that 209 individuals were vaccinated against Cholera. Cumulatively, 16,573 individuals have been vaccinated against Cholera since the start of the campaign.
Ssekandi adds that cross border meeting was held successfully on Wednesday at Bunagana border post between the Kisoro District Security Commitee and DRC Security team.
The 12 men delegation from DRC was headed by Mr. Bosco Mugalu Sadik and the Ugandan team was led by Hajji Shafiq Sekandi the RDC Kisoro. The meeting was attended by officers of FARDC, Congo Police, Intelligence, immigration and Customs. The Ugandan side had, LC5 chairperson for Kisoro, UPDF, Police, Intelligence, and OPM, Development partners from Nyakabande Transit Center such as UNHCR, CAFOMI, Save the Children, NRC, Red Cross, WFP, and For Africa.
The meeting resolved to ask all asylum seekers along the borderline to move to the Transit Center at Nyakabande, to establish a holding ground for animals of refugees, and to encourage asylum seekers at Nyakabande to relocate to settlements.
Recently, violent clashes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) forced thousands of Congolese to escape to neighboring Uganda, and the fight is still on.
About M23 Rebel Group
The March 23 Movement often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army is a rebel military group based in Eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), mainly operating in the province of North Kivu. The 2012 M23 rebellion against the DRC government has led to the displacement of large numbers of people.
On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of one million people, but was requested to evacuate it by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region because the DRC government had finally agreed to negotiate with them. In late 2012 Congolese troops, along with UN troops, retook control of Goma and M23 announced a ceasefire, saying it wanted to resume peace talks. In May 2022, M23 fighters launched their most sustained attack since the peace deal, overrunning a Congolese army base at Rumangabo.
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